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GHOST OF OLD ALEX OH SLABoooooooooooSeries Hero of Six 1 ears Ago in ‘Kerosene LoopoooooooooooANCIENT SOUP BOH E CREAKINGBy GEORGE K1RKSEYThis is tougher than playing(United Press Staff Correspondent)CHICAGO, Aug. 22.—He was batting grounders in infield practice when I walked into a ball park in the heart of Chicago's black belt, where the House of David team was to play Cole’s American Giants, a Negro nine.Even if every other hall player on the field hadn't been black or wore General Grant whiskers, anyone who had*een him from the time he broke in with the Philliesin 1911 until hepitched his last game in the Na tional league i?»1930 would have immediately recognized him.There n e v e i was but one Grover Cleveland Alexander.There lie stood under the floodMALEXANDERttights tossing upa ball and hitting it with a bat, the same tail, gaunt figure that graced a major league piehing mound for 20 years and left be-greatest record of league pitcher. in won 373 and lostin the big leagues,” he replied “There, everything's arranged for you; you live first class and you don’t have to do nothing but playball. Poor diamonds, hostilecrowds, partial umpires, bad accommodations and everything likethat make this pretty tough Eventually we got to thinking about the time we cam© in to pitch in the 1926 world series with the bases filled, fanned Lazzeri, and pitched the Cardinals into the world’s championship. It has been written and said that he was tipsy when he came into the box thatday.“I wasn’t, no more drunk than them sport writers wfho started that,” Alex said. “I took my time and just kind of mosied in because I knew* the longer it took me to get to the box the more nervous a youngster like JLazzeri wrould be ”Moran, Hornsbyhe though he would if he had never im-replied:I don’t see htnv I could of. If had my career to live over 1LaudsAsked ifhave lastedbibed, Alex*.Iwould do just about the same. II used to lose 4 to 5 pounds pitch-hind him the any National that - span he 208.From a distance he hasn’tchanged much. He still wears his uniform sloppily and his cap perched on the top of his head as if it were too small for him.“Look yonder, boy,” a colored gentleman chirped. “Thar's OldAlex. Wonder ’bout how old he j is now. Be to ha ’bout as old as Methuselah.”Confesses to 45 YearsWhen he cam© into the bench,he confessed to 45 last February. And in that stretch he’s been all the way up and down baseball’sscale. Six years ago he was a world series hero, and now' thenational game has reduced him tothe level of a manager and pitcher for a tribe of bewhtskered players touring the “kerosene circuit” In a bus.Bis ar may have lost muchof its cunning and his legs mayhave gone hack on him, but the name Grover Cleveland Alexander is still a magnet to baseball fans. He’s advertised to pitch in every game, and he usually goes in foran inning or two. Last year the House of David team played 184 games and Alexander pitched in more than half of them. They’ve played about 115 this year, and he’s been in 90.“Don’t the old sou phone hurt you?” he was asked.“The strain of pitching after night makes it get quick and ! can’t last more’n two or three innings/’ he said. “I think, though, if I got my legs in shape and had the proper rest I could go the route once a week.** “How do you like this life?ing a game and I wasn’t any big strong fellow. 1 had to get that weight back, and 1 use to have a few drinks to do it”Pat. Moran, who managed the Phillies \^hen he broke in, he regards as the greatest manager heever played under. He hasn’t muchregard for Joe McCarthy, who tired him off the Cubs, but he believes Rogers Hornsby, recently tired by the Cubs, was a greatleader.“I liked to play tor Hornsby,1said Alex. “He never said thisor that to me. He just handed me a ball and said ’You're pitching today,' and he never tried to teli me how to pitch to a batter or second -guessed me.”FULLERTON WINNERtevernight jtired• IFullerton today was awarded the baseball championship of the Or- J | ange County Summer league, after j beating Richfield with surprising ease, 9-2, at Richfield yesterday. This w as the third and deciding j contest of a three-game playoff | a between the first and second half i *champions.“Lefty Parra, Richfield’s ace \ moundsman, had a mqjee arm andwas shelled off the ridge in threeinnings. Rayan hurled a steady game for F u Horton.The score;Fullerton ...........062 000 100—9Richfield ............001 0OQ 010—2
Newspaper Details
Santa Ana Daily Evening Register
Santa Ana, California, US
Mon, Aug 22, 1932
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Michael W.
NA, 21 Jan 2023
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