Small Town Legend - Info

Museum of Nebraska Major League Baseball - St. Paul, Nebraska

The Museum of Nebraska Major League Baseball is devoted to illustrating the careers of 114 major league baseball players with Nebraska roots. All 114 players made it to the major leagues of American baseball. Five were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, including Grover Cleveland Alexander, Dazzy Vance, "Wahoo" Sam Crawford, Bob Gibson and Richie Ashburn. All of these, except Ashburn, are listed in the "Top 100 Baseball Players of the 20th Century." Exhibits on the five Hall of Fame players illustrate their baseball careers. Patrons will see trading cards, photographs, letters, programs, bats, balls, gloves and other artifacts. Additional displays are being developed for the "Nebraska's Top 25 Roster," including Les Nunamaker of Malcolm (1911–1922) who played catcher for Alexander at many area county fairs; Johnny Hopp from Hastings; Rex Barney from Omaha; Billy Southworth from Harvard; Adoph Liska from Dwight; Tim Burke from Omaha, a great relief pitcher who played for Montreal & the Yankees; and "Mr. Baseball" - Clarence Mitchell of Aurora.

Grover Cleveland Alexander's Stats

Born: Feb. 26, 1887
Died: Nov. 4, 1950

Hometown: Elba, NE

Position: Starting Pitcher

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Years in Baseball: 20

Average 19.6 wins for 19 years

Pitched 90 lifetime shutouts

Among the first thirteen baseball players named to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Career totals: W373; L 208; PCT .642; G 696; IP 5190; ERA 2.56; BB 951; SO 2198; SV 32

History:

1911 Drafted by the Phillies. Won 28 games to set a rookie year record.

1912 Won 19 games.

1913 Won 22 games.

1914 Won 27 games.

1915 Won 31 games (12 shutouts and a record 4 one-hitters).

1916 Won 33 games (16 shutouts).

1917 Won 30 (two of them complete games in a Labor Day doubleheader). Traded to Chicago Cubs Pitched in three games before entering the Army as a Sergeant.

1920 Returned from Military Services. Won 27 games Lead the league in most wins, strikeouts, and lowest ERA in 1920.

1926 Waived to the Cardinals. Pitched two complete games (games 2 and 6) during the World Series. Recorded the most dramatic "save" in series history, striking out Tony Lazzeri with bases loaded in the seventh inning of the seventh game.

RELATED SITES:

Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field, 1060 W. Addison St., Chicago, IL 60613-4397. Phone 773-404-CUBS http://www.cubs.com

St. Louis Cardinals, 250 Stadium Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63102. Phone 314/421-3060 http://www.stlcardinals.com

Philadelphia Phillies, P.O. Box 7575, Phila., PA 19101. Phone 215-463-5000. http://www.phillies.com

FOR FURTHER READING:

Ol' Pete: The Grover Cleveland Alexander Story by Jack Kavanagh. Diamond Communications, Inc. May 1997.

"Alexander the Great: The Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander" by Jerry E. Clark and Martha E. Webb from Making History. July 1993

Grover Cleveland Alexander by Jim Tackach, Jack Kavanagh and Earl Weaver. Chelsea House Publishers. January 1990.