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NOLD ALEX STILL PITCHING• • •• * •Veteran Big League Star Tours Kerosene CircuitWith Bewhiskered House of David TeamBy George Kirkeey United Press Staff Corp’t' ing the Kerosene circuit” in a bus.His arm may have lost mostname is ■He'sCHICAGO. Aug. 22 He was bat of ting grounders in infield practice have 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 nineEven If every other ball player on the field hadn't been black or wore General Grant whiskers, anyone who had seen him from thetime he broke in with the Phillies in 1911 until he pitched his last game in the National League in 1930 would have immediately recognixed himThere never was but one Grover Cleveland Alexander,There he stood under the flood lights tossing up a ball and hitting it with a bat, the samegaunt figure that graced a major league pitching mound for twenty year* and left behind him the great est record of any National League( In that span he won 373and lost From changed u n i f o rmdistance he hasn’t I He atilt wears hi* sloppily and his cap perched on top of his head as if it were too stnall for him. iLook yonder, boy,** a colored gentleman chirped. Thar* old Ale*. Wonder 'bout how old he is now. Belcba ’bout as old as MethuselahWhen be came in to the bench, be confessed to if last February and in that stretch he'a been all the way up and down baseball’s scale Hi* years ago he was a world series hero, and now the national game has reduced him to the lev of a manager and a pitcher for aItcunning and his legs may gone back on him. but the Grover Cleveland Alexander a magnet to baseball fans.erttaed to pitch la everygame, and he usually goes in for an inning or two Iyear the House of Iwvid team played Ikt games and Alexander pitched in moreof them. ’WJve played about 115 this and he’s been in ninety ofthem.j “Don’t the old soupbone ever hurt you?” he wg* asked.The strain of pitching night after night makes ft gel tired quick and I can’t last raore'n two or three innings, he said. ’ .1 think though, If t got ray legs in shape and had the properrest I could go the route once a■ week.**How do you like this life?” Thia Is tougher tnsn playingbig leagues,” he replied, jeverything’s arranged for you. you live first-class and you don't have to do anything hut play ball. The poor diamonds, the hostile crowds, the partial umpire*, ami had accommodations and everything like that makes thia pretty tough. ifEventually we got to talking J about the time he came In to pitch in the 1921? world series with thebase* filled fanned Lazxeri, and pitched the Cardinals into the world’s championship. It ha* beenwritten and said that he was tipsy when he came Into the box thatday.“I wasn't no more drunk thanOtribe of bewhiskered players tour- the sport writer* who started ,n»mccn-s». ■ .*»«***that,” Alex said ”1 took my time
Newspaper Details
Xenia Evening Gazette
Xenia, Ohio, US
Mon, Aug 22, 1932
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Michael W.
NA, 21 Jan 2023
Other Publications Near Xenia, Ohio
Xenia Evening Gazette
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Morning Republican
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