The King and His Court

[SC Ump]

Anyone remember them? Another thread got me to thinking about them. They were four guys that would play the local team in a game of fast pitch, kind of like the Globetrotters of softball. They had slight rule variations, like leading off.

The pitcher had a great behind the back move to first that he would throw without looking. After I got into umpiring, I met a guy in Orlando that had got to umpire one of their games. He said it caught him sleeping and everyone in the park knew he had blown the call when he called the picked off runner safe.

I was about 12 when I saw them, but I seem to remember that the guy would pitch to a couple of batters from second base, striking them out.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Yes, I remember them. The King was a pitcher by the name of Eddie Fiegner (I think that is how his last name is spelled.).

I am 53 and saw him when I was about twelve years old at the old Idora Park in Youngstown, Ohio.

[Bagman62]

Eddie Feigner, the pitcher and Tim Mackin a power hitting catcher plus two fielders. Of course nobody could hit Feigner as he pitched, blindfolded, between his legs, behind his back and from 2B.

Does anyone remeber Herb Dudley of the Clearwater Bombers or from women's fst pitch Joan Joyce from Raybestos Brakettes in Stratford Conn.?

[WestMichBlue]

The King and His Court still tour; they still play the best and win most of the games. Feigner, now 80 and suffering the after effect of a stroke a few years ago still tours and give demonstrations, but no longer plays. His replacement pitcher does most of the tricks that Feigner did (pitching behind the back, from second base, etc.)

I saw him many times and it was always an amazing act. Picture warming up from CF and throwing strikes! Not only was Feigner great, but his teammate were outstanding. I'll always remember a local batter driving a Feigner pitch to the CF fence. The Court's SS took off after the ball, retrieved it and wheeled and threw without looking to a perfectly placed F4 relay who fired a one hop srike to home, retiring the B-R by 10'!

FeignerÂ’s fastpitch was once clocked at 104 mph. For a real crowd pleaser he would bring out the local team's catcher and throw various speed pitches, announcing the speed of the pitch beforehand. After he had thrown some 70% and 80% pitches, and had the catcher getting very nervous, Feigner would announce his 100% pitch, over 100 mph. He would instruct the catcher to hold his glove way out to the side, claiming that he would never see the pitch. The catcher could hardly hold his glove still he was shaking so much. When Feigner let go of the pitch, the catcher never moved. Didn't see it.

A neat bit of history - in a two-inning exhibition in 1967, he struckout Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Maury Wills, Harmon Killebrew and Roberto Clemente.

Of course he got away with a lot of illegal acts. (Ala the Globe Trotters.) Double windups and throwing behind the back and between the legs really kept the batter's off balance.

I got a chance to meet him once and I was amazed the see that his right arm was double the size of his left arm. By that time he had pitched over 8,000 games (and won 99.99995% of them).

Meadowlark Lemon and Eddie Feigner - two awesome athletes and showmen from another era.

WMB

[mick]

Originally posted by SC Ump
Anyone remember them?

Been there.
Bought the T-shirt.
Good show.
Junior was the outfield.
I worked the yard.
mick

[JEL]

I saw Feigner once in 1999 at a FP tourney when I was coaching a 16U team. His health was weak then, and he was rolled out on the field in a wheelchair. Two girls from my team were chosen to play against the King. One of them was my DD, (they put their names in a hat, and were chosen by TD). The ability of the King and his court was amazing. My DD actually hit one of Feigners pitches, albeit probably because he allowed it.

DD and Mom & Dad will always have good memories of that game, and hit. Not many people can hit his pitches. I doubt we will see another quite like the King and his Court. I wish I could have taped that one.

[whiskers_ump]

While in the Military in Thailand, I played in a game with
the King and Court. They would come over and play because
we could play year round there.

I was at bat when he did his blind fold thingy. Scarey.
Catcher would tell him where the pitches were, Eddie would adjust and when ready call for the batter. He could throw
just as good that way as he could without the blindfold.
I did touch the ball, foul tip. Walked my second time at
bat, but that was because he wanted to pick me off at 1B.
As someone stated, they wanted you to lead off so he could
do just that.

A lot of fun. Did we score???? No, he no hit us.

[Steve M]

I've worked the plate for two of Eddie's games. The first time was 20-25 years ago. He was still a very good pitcher at 50+. The second time was about 10 years ago, after he had recovered from the heart attack or stroke. He pitched the first inning and the last inning. He still put on a show and a clinic, and spent much time afterward talking to fans - signing anything they brought. Then, we went to dinner. The man was an incredible talent and player. He impressed me just as much with his character - that's a good man.

A good friend of mine (he's much older than I am) umpired a number of games between Feigner and Ty Stofflet. Picture this - the King clocked at 114 and Stofflet at about 106 and both of them with as much command of exact location as you can imagine. Made for some good games.

[greymule]

Too bad he didn't adapt his softball motion for use with a baseball. If he could have thrown 114 mph, with various breaking balls and pinpoint control for all those years, he'd be able to buy out Bill Gates now.

His change-up would be 100 mph.

I saw him in the mid 80's Awesome!!!!

[argodad]

Eddie was in a Fastpitch Forum chat room about 5 years ago when someone asked him how hard he could throw. His answer was, "I still throw as hard as I ever did. The ball just doesn't go as fast."

[lawfiveguy]

The King and His Court came to my hometown in the early 80s. It was a great show. At that time I had just graduated high school and was on a natioanl qualifier team. He killed us!! It was one of the greatest sports shows I have ever seen. I learned more from that game and watching him do the clinic stuff than I think from anything else softball related. I didn't come close to getting a hit, no one did, a couple of fouls and that was it, but he walked me and picked me off - seems to be a trend here with other posts.

I just assumed he was dead - he was getting up there when I saw him and that was almost 30 years ago. I wish I could see the current incarnation of the Court - my daughter would love it.

[Steve M]

Originally posted by argodad
Eddie was in a Fastpitch Forum chat room about 5 years ago when someone asked him how hard he could throw. His answer was, "I still throw as hard as I ever did. The ball just doesn't go as fast."

Gotta love a line like that.

[Shmuelg]

Check out their website:

http://www.kingandhiscourt.com/


Looks super cool . . .