Grover Cleveland Alexander

Alexander was one of eight children of William Alexander and Martha Cootey, and his parents named him for Grover Cleveland, then in his first term. Before baseball paid, he dug postholes for the Howard County Telephone Company. He signed his first professional contract in 1907 for $50 a month, was struck by a thrown ball on the bases at Galesburg in 1909, and went 29-11 for Syracuse in 1910 before the Phillies bought him for $750. Friends at home called him Dode. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in St. Paul.

What the plaque says

Grover Cleveland Alexander Grover Cleveland Alexander, the third winningest pitcher in major league baseball history, was born near Elba, Nebraska, on February 26, 1887. After pitching for local and minor league teams, Alexander signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1911, his first season, he amassed twenty-eight victories, still a rookie record. In a career that included stints with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, "Alexander the Great" compiled 373 victories; ninety shutouts, a National League record; and a major league record of sixteen shutouts in a season. Military service and bouts with epilepsy and alcoholism probably limited his career totals. Renowned for pinpoint control, Alexander threw one of baseball's most famous strikeouts in the seventh game of the 1926 World Series. Pitching in relief for the Cardinals, the veteran righthander, then called "Old Pete," struck out the Yankees' Tony Lazerri with the bases loaded. In 1938 Alexander was among the first thirteen inductees to baseball's Hall of Fame. He died in St. Paul, Nebraska, on November 4, 1950. In "The Winning Team," Alexander's 1952 film biography, the baseball immortal was portrayed by Ronald Reagan. Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer — 23 mi
  Edward Durell Stone's island pavilion in Grand Island and an 1890s railroad town of moved buildings, among them the cottage where Henry Fonda was born in 1905.

More markers nearby

• Howard County Courthouse — steps away
• First Presbyterian Church of St. Paul — 0.2 mi
• St. Wenceslaus Catholic Cemetery, Warsaw — 6.0 mi
• Dannebrog, Nebraska's Danish Capital — 8.1 mi