Pete Alexander was one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game, and one of the first stars of the Philadelphia Phillies. The fact that he lasted as long as he did was just as impressive as his career marks.
On this day in 1887, Pete Alexander was born in Elba, Nebraska. One of 13 children, he played semi-pro baseball as a teenager before signing a professional contract at age 20. After four years in the minors, Alexander was sold to the Philadelphia Phillies, with whom he made his Major League debut in 1911. He was impressive as a rookie, leading the National League with 28 wins, 31 complete games, and seven shutouts. The Phillies appeared to have a star to front their rotation.
That proved to be the case over the rest of his time in Philadelphia. Overall, in those first seven seasons, he led the National League in wins five times, including three consecutive seasons with 30 or more victories. Alexander was also a three time ERA leader and five time strikeout champion, and won the pitching Triple Crown three times. In 1915, he helped pitch the Phillies to their first pennant. He was a bona fide star, and one of the best pitchers of his time.
Then came the First World War. The Phillies were afraid of losing Alexander to the draft, so they sold him to the Cubs. Alexander did, indeed, end up in the war, and was stationed in France. There, he was exposed to mustard gas and had a shell explode nearby his location. That led to partial hearing loss, and began the epilepsy that he would suffer throughout his life. Alexander also began drinking more to cope with his issues, leading to chronic alcoholism.
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Alexander had a couple of more solid seasons with the Cubs, leading the league in ERA in 1919 and 1920. In the latter, he won his last pitching Triple Crown. Then, his problems began to catch up with him.
While he was still an above average pitcher, Alexander’s drunkenness and clashes with management caused problems with the Cubs. In the middle of 1926, as the team was floundering to another last place finish, they sold Alexander to the Cardinals. He dominated in the World Series that year, throwing two complete game victories and earning the save in Game Seven to give St. Louis the title.
He won another 20 games in 1927, but the end was fast approaching. His alcoholism finally chased him from the Majors, although he would spend another decade pitching for the House of David barnstorming team. Alexander finished his career with a 373-208 record, tied for third all time in victories. He had a 2.56 ERA and a 1.121 WHiP, striking out 2198 batters while issuing only 951 walks in 5190 innings. Alexander was certainly one of the top pitchers in the history of the game.
However, his issues would continue. Alexander’s wife divorced him in 1929, although they would remarry in 1931. They finally separated for good in 1941. He was found unconscious in a Los Angeles alleyway in 1949, suffering from epilepsy and missing an ear. Alexander died almost two years later from liver disease, approximately a month after making his final public appearance during Game Three of the 1950 World Series.
Alexander’s legacy is complex. On one hand, he was one of the greatest pitchers that the Majors has ever seen. Meanwhile, his epilepsy and drunkenness led to his career stalling out after a decade, robbing him of what could have been the greatest career of any pitcher ever to appear. Likewise, those epileptic episodes could have made the reports of his alcoholism far worse than they were, as the disease was not fully understood at the time.
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Pete Alexander was a Phillies legend, and one of the brightest stars of his time. In his wake, he left behind a complicated legacy, one where his on and off the field performances cannot be easily separated.