the king is dead

[mahak]

 

 

when I was a wee lad, I saw this team of professional softball players called the king and his court. This team was a pitcher, a catcher, a first baseman, and a roving fielder. They challenged ANY team, professional, major league baseball, etc, and they almost never lost. Their four players against a full team.

 

The King has just passed away. His record is awesome, his career strikeout total was 120,000 (No misprint, he struck out 20 times more batters than Nolan Ryan). His roundhouse fastball was clocked at anywhere between 105 and 115 MPH (Major league clocks dont go that high, BTW). Once in an exhibition in Arizona during major league baseball spring training, he faced Reggie Jackson,, George Brett, Paul Molitor, Fredd Lynn and Pete rose. He only used fifteen pitches to strike out all five.

 

Barnstormers, they played 200 games every summer, often a doubleheader involving two different cities. They spawned another magnificent team, the queen and her court, and they were just as awesome, the queen throwing 100 MPH as well.

 

The king is dead.

 

mahaksadasa

[mahak]

 

 

Eddie Feigner, arguably the greatest softball player of all time, the amazing pitcher who led his four man team around the world playing conventional nine man teams for 61 years, has retired from barnstorming.

 

 

With Feigner on the mound, backed by only ,a catcher ,shortstop, and first baseman, The King and His Court which started in 1946, has become a legendary sports icon and was named by Sports Illustrated Magazine as #8 in its list of the top 20 favorite teams of the 20th Century.

Feigner's fastest pitch was clocked at 104 miles per hour He pitched 930 no-hitters, 238 perfect games, and struck out 141,517 batters pitching from second base, centerfield, behind his back and between his legs and blindfolded.

 

 

In a nationally televised game against Major Leaguers, he struck out, consecutively, baseball legends, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Brooks Robinson Willie McCovey, Maurey Wills, and Harmon Killebrew, His last pitch was at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Australia where he threw out the first ball of the Softball competition. He suffered a stroke the next day which ended his pitching career at 75. He did however continue to tour as Emcee for the show until the end of this season.

 

 

Feigner has handed the ball to twenty year veteran team member Rich Hoppe of Burbank, CA. Feigner was a mentor to Hoppe when Hoppe was a 16 year old aspiring pitcher, establishing a long relationship that led to Hoppes' becoming the featured pitcher for the Court after a long stint in a backup role. Hoppe, a good showman in his own right, like Feigner, has a large repertoire of trick pitches and takes a 130 game win streak into the '07 season.

 

 

Jack Knight, of Studio City, CA, who will begin his 26th year of association with the team, is the new team captain and emcee and continues at first base. Russ Fittje of suburban Omaha will play at shortstop while veteran Dave Booth and Jason Fisher will share catching duties.

 

All King and His Court events will be played in memory of Eddie Feigner - The King who has been diagnosed with dementia and Mrs. Feigner - The Queen, who is a spokeswoman for this tragic disease, will do their very best to keep The Court on the road for generations to come.

[gHari]

I saw them play in my hometown as a kid. I was a chucker too, but Eddie could fire rockets from second base (no one could touch him from the mount), and the whole town was in total awe. Odd how I remembered his name 45 years later; must have been some real razzle-dazzle back then.