Grover Cleveland Alexander

Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched 20 major league seasons, won 373 games, and posted a 2.56 career ERA. He threw 90 shutouts, the most in National League history and second only to Walter Johnson's 110 in the major leagues. He won 30 or more games in three consecutive seasons, from 1915 to 1917, and led the National League in ERA four times. He pitched through epilepsy, alcoholism, and the aftermath of serving in the trenches of World War I, and he delivered the most famous relief appearance in World Series history when he struck out Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in the seventh inning of Game 7 of the 1926 Series. His 373 wins tie him with Christy Mathewson for the most in National League history and third on the all-time list behind Cy Young's 511 and Walter Johnson's 417.

St. Paul, Nebraska

Alexander was born near Elba, Nebraska, and grew up on a farm. He was named after President Grover Cleveland and went by "Alex" or sometimes "Old Pete." He began pitching for local teams as a teenager. In 1909, while playing for Galesburg of the Illinois-Missouri League, he was struck in the head by a thrown ball while running the bases and was knocked unconscious for nearly two days. He suffered double vision for months afterward. Some biographers have speculated that the head injury may have triggered the epileptic seizures that plagued him for the rest of his life.

He was drafted by the Indianapolis Indians and then sold to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he arrived in 1911.

Philadelphia

Alexander's rookie season was extraordinary. He went 28-13 with a 2.57 ERA, seven shutouts, and 31 complete games in 1911. He led the National League in wins, innings pitched, shutouts, and complete games. He won 19 games in 1912, then 22 in 1913, and 27 in 1914, establishing himself as the best pitcher in the league.

From 1915 to 1917, he dominated in a way that only a handful of pitchers in history have matched. In 1915, he went 31-10 with a 1.22 ERA, 12 shutouts, and 376.1 innings. He led the Phillies to their first National League pennant, though they lost the World Series to the Boston Red Sox in five games. In 1916, he went 33-12 with a 1.55 ERA and 16 shutouts, a single-season record that still stands. In 1917, he went 30-13 with a 1.83 ERA and eight shutouts. Over those three seasons, he completed 36 shutouts and pitched more than 1,100 innings.

After the 1917 season, the Phillies traded Alexander and catcher Bill Killefer to the Chicago Cubs for two players and $55,000. Alexander was about to be drafted into the Army, and the Phillies decided to cash in while they could.

The War and the Seizures

Alexander served in France with the 342nd Field Artillery of the 89th Division. He spent weeks under shelling on the front lines. He lost hearing in one ear and returned home with what would now be called post-traumatic stress. The epileptic seizures, which may have begun after his 1909 head injury, worsened after the war. He self-medicated with alcohol for the rest of his life.

He returned to the Cubs in 1919 and pitched well despite his condition. He won 16 games in 1919, 27 in 1920, and 22 in 1923, when he was 36 years old. His control remained precise even as his fastball diminished. He walked only 1.65 batters per nine innings over his career, one of the lowest figures in history.

The 1926 World Series

In June 1926, the Cubs waived Alexander to the St. Louis Cardinals. He went 9-7 with a 2.91 ERA down the stretch and helped the Cardinals win the National League pennant.

The 1926 World Series against the New York Yankees went to seven games. Alexander won Game 2, a 6-2 complete game, and Game 6, a 10-2 complete game, both against the Yankees' lineup of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri.

In Game 7, the Cardinals held a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning when the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs and Lazzeri coming to bat. Cardinals manager Rogers Hornsby called Alexander in from the bullpen. Alexander, who was 39 years old and had pitched a complete game the day before, walked slowly to the mound. According to multiple accounts, he had been drinking the night before, believing his Series work was done.

He struck out Lazzeri on four pitches. Some accounts say Lazzeri fouled a long drive down the left-field line before the strikeout, a ball that would have been a grand slam if fair. Alexander retired the Yankees in order in the eighth. In the ninth, he walked Babe Ruth with two outs, and Ruth was then thrown out attempting to steal second base, ending the Series. It remains one of the most celebrated moments in baseball history.

Final Years

Alexander pitched two more seasons for the Cardinals and part of a final season with the Phillies in 1930 before retiring with 373 wins. After baseball, his life deteriorated. He worked as a greeter at a flea circus on West 42nd Street in New York, appeared in a traveling baseball sideshow, and lived in rented rooms. His epilepsy and alcoholism made steady employment impossible. He and his wife Aimee divorced and remarried twice.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1938, the sole player selected by the BBWAA that year. He received 212 of 262 votes (80.9 percent).

He was found dead on November 4, 1950, in a rented room in St. Paul, Nebraska, alone and broke. He was 63 years old. The 1952 film "The Winning Team" starred Ronald Reagan as Alexander, focusing on the 1926 World Series and the pitcher's battle with alcoholism. Alexander died eleven blocks from the house where he was born.