Pete Alexander

⭐ Hall of Fame 1938

Born: 2/26/1887 in Elba, NE, USA

Died: 11/4/1950 in St. Paul, NE, USA

MLB Debut: 1911-04-15 | Final Game: 1930-05-28

Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 185 lbs

Full name: Grover Cleveland Alexander

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Biography

Pete Alexander, born in 1887, was a prominent pitcher whose career spanned from 1911 to 1930. He became one of the most celebrated hurlers of his time, finishing his career with an impressive record of 373 wins and 208 losses. Known for his remarkable control and durability, Alexander achieved a career earned run average (ERA) of 2.56, a testament to his effectiveness on the mound during the early 20th century. His ability to strike out batters was also notable, as he recorded 2,198 strikeouts over the course of his career, along with 32 saves. Playing in an era that saw the transition from the deadball era to the more offensive-minded approach of the 1920s, Alexander's contributions to the game were significant. He was renowned for his fierce competitiveness and strong work ethic, which earned him respect among teammates and opponents alike. His legacy endures not only through his impressive statistics but also through his influence on the game as one of the premier pitchers of his generation.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
373 208 696 599 437 90 32 5190.0 4868 1476 164 951 2198 2.56 0

Career ERA 2.56 vs. league average 3.69 across their career seasons — 30.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1911 PHI NL 28 13 48 37 31 7 3 367.0 285 105 129 227 2.57 3.37 (+24%) 5112.6
1912 PHI NL 19 17 46 34 25 3 3 310.3 289 97 105 195 2.81 3.36 (+16%) 1810.0
1913 PHI NL 22 8 47 36 23 9 2 306.3 288 95 75 159 2.79 3.07 (+9%) 3022.6
1914 PHI NL 27 15 46 39 32 6 1 355.0 327 94 76 214 2.38 2.93 (+19%) 6195.5
1915 PHI NL 31 10 49 42 36 12 3 376.3 253 51 64 241 1.22 2.90 (+58%) 10933.0
1916 PHI NL 33 12 48 45 38 16 3 389.0 323 67 50 167 1.55 2.78 (+44%) 6383.1
1917 PHI NL 30 13 45 44 34 8 0 388.0 336 79 56 200 1.83 2.69 (+32%) 8756.0
1918 CHC NL 2 1 3 3 3 0 0 26.0 19 5 3 15 1.73 2.83 (+39%) -
1919 CHC NL 16 11 30 27 20 9 1 235.0 180 45 38 121 1.72 3.09 (+44%) -
1920 CHC NL 27 14 46 40 33 7 5 363.3 335 77 69 173 1.91 3.45 (+45%) -
1921 CHC NL 15 13 31 29 21 3 1 252.0 286 95 33 77 3.39 4.02 (+16%) -
1922 CHC NL 16 13 33 31 20 1 1 245.7 283 99 34 48 3.63 4.18 (+13%) -
1923 CHC NL 22 12 39 36 26 3 2 305.0 308 108 30 72 3.19 4.03 (+21%) -
1924 CHC NL 12 5 21 20 12 0 0 169.3 183 57 25 33 3.03 4.13 (+27%) -
1925 CHC NL 15 11 32 30 20 1 0 236.0 270 89 29 63 3.39 4.55 (+25%) -
1926 CHC NL 3 3 7 7 4 0 0 52.0 55 20 7 12 3.46 4.11 (+16%) -
1926 STL NL 9 7 23 16 11 2 2 148.3 136 48 24 35 2.91 4.11 (+29%) -
1927 STL NL 21 10 37 30 22 2 3 268.0 261 75 38 48 2.52 4.08 (+38%) -
1928 STL NL 16 9 34 31 18 1 2 243.7 262 91 37 59 3.36 4.13 (+19%) -
1929 STL NL 9 8 22 19 8 0 0 132.0 149 57 23 33 3.89 4.60 (+15%) -
1930 PHI NL 0 3 9 3 0 0 0 21.7 40 22 6 6 9.14 4.80 (-90%) -1134.3

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
703 1810 154 378 60 13 11 163 3 77 276 0.209 0.242 0.275 0.517 -7582.8

Career AVG .209 vs. league average .273 across their career seasons — 23.5% below league average.

Career OBP .242 vs. league average .336 across their career seasons — 28.1% below league average.

Career SLG .275 vs. league average .374 across their career seasons — 26.5% below league average.

Career OPS 0.517 vs. league average 0.710 across their career seasons — 27.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1911 PHI NL 50 138 12 24 5 1 0 9 1 2 27 0.174 .266 (-35%) .336 (-45%) .356 (-37%) .693 (-41%) -1001.1
1912 PHI NL 46 102 7 19 4 0 2 13 0 6 14 0.186 .268 (-31%) .335 (-31%) .358 (-21%) .694 (-26%) -468.5
1913 PHI NL 47 103 9 13 4 1 0 4 0 3 21 0.126 .259 (-51%) .325 (-54%) .345 (-47%) .670 (-50%) -877.7
1914 PHI NL 48 137 18 32 3 0 0 7 0 3 12 0.234 .255 (-8%) .322 (-21%) .339 (-25%) .661 (-23%) -522.5
1915 PHI NL 49 130 9 22 3 0 1 8 0 6 23 0.169 .250 (-32%) .318 (-35%) .332 (-35%) .651 (-35%) -756.3
1916 PHI NL 49 138 10 33 7 4 0 9 1 5 15 0.239 .248 (-4%) .314 (-15%) .326 (+7%) .640 (-4%) -172.6
1917 PHI NL 47 139 17 30 8 2 1 13 1 3 23 0.216 .248 (-13%) .312 (-26%) .323 (avg) .635 (-13%) -349.9
1918 CHC NL 3 10 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.100 — — — — 0.0
1919 CHC NL 30 70 6 12 1 0 0 4 0 10 18 0.171 .262 (-35%) .322 (-15%) .347 (-47%) .670 (-31%) -316.6
1920 CHC NL 46 118 9 27 4 1 1 14 0 11 26 0.229 .271 (-16%) .331 (-11%) .363 (-16%) .694 (-14%) -268.1
1921 CHC NL 31 95 8 29 3 1 1 14 0 2 13 0.305 .286 (+7%) .344 (-7%) .395 (-1%) .739 (-4%) -85.5
1922 CHC NL 33 85 4 15 1 0 0 11 0 6 16 0.176 .285 (-38%) .345 (-33%) .397 (-53%) .743 (-44%) -637.9
1923 CHC NL 39 111 10 24 3 1 1 10 0 1 11 0.216 .282 (-24%) .344 (-35%) .390 (-26%) .734 (-30%) -614.4
1924 CHC NL 21 65 3 15 2 0 1 10 0 2 8 0.231 .283 (-19%) .345 (-27%) .389 (-21%) .734 (-24%) -268.4
1925 CHC NL 32 79 7 19 4 1 2 12 0 1 5 0.241 .288 (-17%) .349 (-28%) .407 (-4%) .756 (-15%) -244.1
1926 CHC NL 7 15 1 7 2 0 0 3 0 0 1 0.467 — — — — 0.0
1926 STL NL 23 50 1 6 1 0 0 3 0 2 14 0.120 .279 (-57%) .345 (-55%) .390 (-64%) .735 (-60%) 0.0
1927 STL NL 37 94 7 23 3 1 0 6 0 5 14 0.245 .282 (-13%) .344 (-18%) .392 (-24%) .736 (-21%) -354.6
1928 STL NL 34 86 13 25 2 0 1 11 0 4 8 0.291 .280 (+3%) .342 (-6%) .395 (-12%) .737 (-9%) -131.7
1929 STL NL 22 41 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 3 5 0.049 — — — — 0.0
1930 PHI NL 9 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.000 — — — — 0.0

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
7 13 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 0.077

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1928 WS SLN 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.000
1926 WS SLN 3 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000
1915 WS PHI 2 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.200

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
3 2 7 5 1 43.0 36 17 12 29 3.56

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1928 WS SLN 0 1 2 1 0 5.0 10 11 4 2 19.80
1926 WS SLN 2 0 3 2 1 20.3 12 3 4 17 1.33
1915 WS PHI 1 1 2 2 0 17.7 14 3 4 10 1.53

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
P 696 0 189 1419 25 50

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1911 PHI P 48 0 11 95 4 3
1912 PHI P 46 0 10 75 3 1
1913 PHI P 47 0 10 82 0 3
1914 PHI OF 1 0 0 0 0 0
1914 PHI P 46 0 18 102 3 1
1915 PHI P 49 0 22 120 3 4
1916 PHI P 48 0 17 102 1 3
1917 PHI P 45 0 24 108 1 3
1918 CHN P 3 0 0 8 0 0
1919 CHN P 30 0 6 85 0 2
1920 CHN P 46 0 8 105 2 2
1921 CHN P 31 0 11 60 2 4
1922 CHN P 33 0 9 69 0 5
1923 CHN P 39 0 11 90 1 6
1924 CHN P 21 0 4 53 2 2
1925 CHN P 32 0 7 45 0 4
1926 CHN P 7 0 1 19 0 0
1926 SLN P 23 0 2 39 2 1
1927 SLN P 37 0 8 66 0 1
1928 SLN P 34 0 4 57 0 3
1929 SLN P 22 0 5 38 1 2
1930 PHI P 9 0 1 1 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 696
Left Field 1

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1927 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1926 TSN All-Star P
1925 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1923 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1923 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1920 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1920 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1920 Pitching Triple Crown
1917 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1917 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1916 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1916 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1916 Pitching Triple Crown
1915 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1915 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1915 Pitching Triple Crown
1914 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1914 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1913 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2
1911 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3
1911 Baseball Magazine All-Star P3

Featured In Rankings

#18
Top 25 Starting Pitchers in History of MLB Baseball
Ranked 18 of 25
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Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1927 Most Valuable Player NL 20th 3.0 80 0
1926 Most Valuable Player NL 19th 5.0 80 0
1924 Most Valuable Player NL 22th 1.0 80 0
1914 Most Valuable Player NL 10th 9.0 64 0
1912 Most Valuable Player NL 22th 1.0 64 0
1911 Most Valuable Player NL 3rd 23.0 64 0