Alexander wraps up career with Phillies

Written by: Craig Muder

His career began during a pitcher-dominated era and ended in what became known as the Year of the Hitter.

In between, Grover Cleveland Alexander controlled the mound like few ever have.

On May 28, 1930, “Old Pete” appeared in his final big league game, allowing two unearned runs in a relief appearance for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Boston Braves. A few hours after the game, the Phillies released Alexander, ending a career that some have called the greatest ever for a National League pitcher.

“Alexander is the one player in our league who could win the pennant for any of the seven teams that were not in first place,” said Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem.

Born Feb. 26, 1887 in Elba, Neb., Alexander reached the big leagues at the age of 24 and quickly established himself as a star, winning a modern-era rookie record 28 games in 1911.

He led the National League with 195 strikeouts in 1912 – his first of five strikeout crowns over six seasons – and then won 27 games in 1914, a prelude of what was to come. From 1915-17, Alexander averaged 31 victories and 384 innings pitched per year, leading the Phillies to the NL crown in 1915.

But with the United States officially in World War I, the Phillies traded Alexander to the Cubs following the 1917 season in a deal that netted the Phils $55,000. He was called to military service early in the 1918 season, and by July he found himself on the front lines with the Army.

The constant bombardment at the front lines left Alexander physically and mentally injured following the war.

Though he won his fourth and fifth earned-run average titles in 1919 and 1920 and led the NL in wins with 27 in the latter year, Alexander was never quite the same pitcher. His ERA drifted above 3.00 for the first time in his career in 1921, and by the middle of the decade he was a mid-rotation starter.

But in 1926, the Cardinals selected Alexander off waivers during the summer as St. Louis pursued the pennant.

He won nine games for St. Louis to help the Cardinals capture their first modern-era National League flag, then pitched complete-game wins in Games 2 and 6 of the World Series against the Yankees.

In Game 7, he was called out of the bullpen with the bases loaded and the Cardinals up 3-2 in the seventh – and proceeded to strike out Tony Lazzeri in a legendary matchup.

Alexander retired the Yanks over the next two innings, allowing only one base runner, to preserve the Cardinals’ title.

With his ninth win in 1929, Alexander reached 373 wins – at the time believed to be the National League record, one more than Christy Mathewson. Later research, however, revealed that a scoring error had denied Mathewson a win in 1902 that should have been his, leaving Alexander and Mathewson tied at 373 National League wins – a mark that stands to this day. He posted an ERA of 2.56 and his 90 shutouts rank No. 2 all-time behind only Walter Johnson.

Batting alcoholism and epilepsy for the rest of his life, Alexander died on Nov. 4, 1950. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1938.

Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

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