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T*CHICAGO, auk 23~(UP—batting greur.Jers in infielddice when I walked into a ball jk in the heart of Chicago’s belt, wh.re the houee of team was ’« pl®y Cole s Giants, a negro nine.IKven if every other Dan piayeighe field hadn’t been black or general Giants whiskets, any JWho had seem him from the'|i|Dt he broke in with the I hllliee W ItH until he pitched hi* last game t n.he national league in 1930 wouldhave 1mm diately recognized him.There never was but one GroverCleveland Alexander Thtoixr he stood lindtr the floodlights tossing up a ball and hitting It with a oat, the sam* tall giant, figure that gtaced a major league pitching mound for 20 years and left behind his the greatest record of any national league pitcher. In that span he won 373 and loet 80ft., From a distance h? hasn’t Ranged much. He s ill wears his uniform sloppily and his cap per-fhc*d on top of his head as If it tie too small for him., When »ie came Into the bench,he confess d to 45 last February, a|nd in that strevci, he's been allfbr way up and down lmsehall’s f^pale. Six years ago he was a world Stories -hero, and now the national game has reduced him to ;he level 4t a manager and pit. her for a tfrobe of bew'niswkeied playerstouting the “kerosene circuit” In4 baa.His arm may have lost most of lie cunning* and his legs may have»laia1 none back* •ClBPPP.NSICGrover Cleveland Alexander is still n magnet to baseball fans. He’s advertised to pitch in every game, tond he usually goes in for an inning or two. Last year the house of David team played 184 games and Alexander pitched in more than half of them. Thev’ve play-efd about 115 this year, and he'skeen in 90 of them.“Don’t the old soupbot\e ever hurt you?” he was asked,“The strain of pitching nigh, after night makes it get tired % quick and 5 can’t last more’n two or three innigs,” he said. “I think though, if I got my legs in shape an dthe proper rest I could go the rou’c once a week “How do you like this life?” “'Tills is tougher than playing ^..ia the big leagues,” he replied.Eventually we got to talking t the time;, he came in to pitch1926 world series with bases j * Lazzen and pitchedCardinals into th? world chamkip. It has been written andwas tipsy when he came into the box that day.wasn’t i.o more drunk then jthe sports writers who started that,” Alex said. “I tcok my ttm* and just kin'd of moised in be-ctjttse I know the longer ot took me to''get. to the box tne more nervous ( youngster like Lazzerl would be ” I Asked if he thought he would 1J have lasted if he had never imbibedAlex replied: 1. “I don’t see how I could of. If I had my career to live over, I |( would do just about the same. I Used to lose 4 to 5 pounds pitch -a game and I wasn’t any big fellow. I had to get that back, I used to have a few to do It.” ,*A* focJII■n
Newspaper Details
Taylor Daily Press
Taylor, Texas, US
Tue, Aug 23, 1932
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Michael W.
NA, 29 Apr 2023
Other Publications Near Taylor, Texas
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