If you look at and listen to Bob Feller and don't immediately feel like you could spend an entire day listening to him tell stories, you're off your rocker. A buddy of mine that used to work for Scene sat in the pressbox for an Indians game a couple of years ago and found himself, literally upon first meeting Feller, deep in an hour conversation about life and baseball. That's just how Feller is. Happy to be around, happy to tell stories, happy to have company. Anyone who's met him at an autograph signing knows this.
Feller just turned 91 and the Sporting News caught up with Feller to talk about his birthday. What did Feller do? Well, he bought a tractor.
"I bought an antique tractor today; I collect them. I was driving along the road up here about 10 miles away and I saw it sitting out there. The guy had it for sale. It's all painted up, and I had him check the carburetors and check the fuel system. It's a 1946 Allis Chalmers. Most of the antique tractors I have are Caterpillar, but I got a different breed this time. It's a wheel tractor. I usually get the crawler, the track-type tractor, but I don't have near as many here now as I did in Iowa."
The rest of the conversation is mesmerizing in its simplicity. His wife made him a mince pie. He likes pie better than cake. (So do I, for the record.)
