Eddie Feigner, who for 60 years barnstormed the globe with his four-man softball team, hurling 100-mile-an-hour pitches that struck out Willie Mays and 141,516 other batters, died on Friday in Huntsville, Ala. He was 81.

Last summer, Feigner (pronounced FAY-ner) sometimes rose from his wheelchair to throw a pitch or two, despite dementia and a succession of strokes and heart attacks. He died of respiratory complications, said Del Reddy, a friend.

Feigner and his team, known as the King and His Court, traveled around the world with a flamboyance that recalled the barnstorming teams assembled by Babe Ruth and that perhaps most resembled basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters. He was the clown prince of softball.

He pitched behind his back, from second base, between his legs, when kneeling and, of course, while blindfolded. A story is told of the time he stood in right field at Yankee Stadium and fired an underhand fastball over home plate. Feigner swore the tale was true, except that it was a curveball that crossed second base on its way to the plate.