Anne Feller’s amazing baseball tribute to her husband

Opening day can inspire a lot of emotions.�It can also put a giant lump in your throat.

Yes, it's getting a little dusty in here after looking at the baseball that Anne Feller placed on the Progressive Field mound before Friday's game between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. The white, new Rawlings ? just like any other, but not really ? was involved with the "silent first pitch" that the team held to honor Anne's late husband, Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller.

Feller, of course,�passed away at age 92 in December and so far the Indians have done a great job of putting the giant loss of their franchise icon into perspective. There were those�big shoes to fill in Arizona. Awe-inspiring patches on their jersey sleeves. Now this silent first pitch, which featured Anne stooping �in front of the pitching rubber and solemnly placing the baseball on the mound near the "No. 19" marking that was placed there for the day.�(Sadly, the Indians could have used Feller on the mound as they lost to the White Sox, 15-10).

As somebody else mentioned, Anne's message to her husband seemed like a sweet reversal of the scene in Up, when the old man receives a message from his late wife in a scrapbook.

And with those two words, �Mrs. Feller completely nailed the spirit of a man who won 266 games, was the first ballplayer to volunteer for World War II (sacrificing more than three of his prime seasons) and then spent 75 years representing the Indians and all of baseball wherever he went.

"Keep pitching."

What an amazing tribute.

A Big BLS H/N to Scott at Waiting For Next Year for snapping the baseball pic.

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