Player Spotlight: Harry Feldman - New York Giants

Feldman, scoring a run while Mel Ott looks (#4) looks on

Due to his bout with TB as a kid, Harry was labled 4F and was kept out of WWII.  From 1942-45 he pitched for the New York Giants and complied a 34-32 record.  In 1945 he was the anchor of New York's pitching staff throwing 217 innings and going 12-13, 3.27.  At the age of 25 he was just about to head into his prime and prove that he could play with the big boys who were returning from the war, but instead he made a huge career error.  Feldman, along with a handful of others, jumped ship to the Mexican league for a bigger pay day.  That bigger pay day would get him blackballed from major league baseball.  Upon his return to the states he wound up only getting a chance in the minors, where he did little to impress anyone.  In two seasons with the PCL San Francisco Seals he went a combined 17-25 with a 4.36 ERA.  At the time the PCL was considered a third major league by many pundits.  At the age of 30 he was out of baseball.  For Feldman, his stint with the Giants was a dream come true since he grew up in the Bronx and was a high school pitching phenom there.  After baseball he ran his own record store in Fort Smith, Alabama.  Sadly, he died of a massive heart attack at the age of 42, while working on his boat in Oklahoma.