Talk:Grover Cleveland Alexander

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Contents 1 Name 2 Honored Americans Project 3 Drink and Lazzeri 4 WikiProject class rating 5 why was he named after Grover Cleveland? 6 1911 LOC Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander Photo

[edit] Name

"Grover Cleveland" was not his real name, Pete was, therefore it is only proper that the nickname appear in quotes...yes? vudu 23:48, 25 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Grover Cleveland is his real name, after the president. 'Pete' is the nickname.User:Varitek

Can you validate that? I've seen references going either way. vudu 16:08, 26 Nov 2003 (UTC)

[1] [2] [ http://z.lee28.tripod.com/sbnslegends/id24.html]. I don't believe I've ever seen anything suggesting that Grover Cleveland was the nickname. Varitek 00:24, 27 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Well, color me red. I stand corrected. Thanks for the validation. vudu 04:02, 27 Nov 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Honored Americans Project

Can anyone check out the Honored Americans project at Talk:George Washington?? Is this person an honor of Grover Cleveland?? Calmypal is gone, and somebody needs to start putting more in. No one has added Grover Cleveland in this project yet; can anyone do so?? 66.245.86.226 15:36, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Drink and Lazzeri

It's often written thay Alexander had been drinking in the bullpen when called upon to strike out Lazzeri. Is there any documentary evidence for this legend? -- GWO

I've read that myself, although I don't know where. I'll look into it. Darwin's Bulldog 07:02, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Granted epilepsy was little known or understood during Old Pete's career, it was cruel at the time to assume he was drunk or hung over, and it is an insult to the intelligence of the average baseball maven to assert that the seasoned manager Rogers Hornsby would be foolish enough to substitute Haines with Alexander, if Old Pete HAD been on the sauce or sleeping one off. (It's an insult to Hornsby too.) I think there's some Frank Merriwell-type wishful thinking involved here, by people who want to believe that a half-drunk pitcher could subdue Lazzeri as Alex did. Incidentally, "Poosh 'Em Up" Lazzeri was an epileptic himself! Nobody called HIM a drunkard. Dougie monty (talk) 05:44, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Times were different then, but you're right, Hornsby wouldn't have taken the risk if he thought Alex was too hung over or whatever. This is off the track a bit, but in the 2001 Series, when Game 6 winner Randy Johnson came trudging in from the bullpen to relieve Schilling in Game 7, to a historian it was like deja vu, back to 1926. I think Johnson was cold sober, though, as surely he knew there was a possibility of being called in... as, I would think, Alex knew in 1926 also. There are all kinds of stories of ballplayers excelling while hung over (Ruth was famous for it). It might be that their headache just forces them to concentrate all the more. Sometimes pain can be distracting, other times it can make you focus. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 06:02, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 16:33, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] why was he named after Grover Cleveland?

Why? Kingturtle (talk) 21:36, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't know that I've ever seen an explanation, and since it was 1887, no one's talking. However, Cleveland was a popular President (maybe even in Nebraska), and parents were known for naming their kids after public figures. Some ballplayers that come to mind are George Washington Bradley, Abraham Lincoln Bailey, William Jennings Bryan Herman, and Jack Roosevelt Robinson (who was named for Teddy, not Franklin). Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 05:58, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] 1911 LOC Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander Photo

There is a nice picture of "Pete" on the Library of Congress's FLICKR page. See Grover Cleveland Alexander. But being a newbie at Wikipedia, I don't know about Wiki formatting (I know CSS, HTTP, PHP, but Wiki??) so I will let the experts decide if the photo is worthy and, maybe, add the photo to "Pete's" page.

I particularly like the picture because it shows "Pete," in his rookie season, wearing a 1911 Phillies sweater over his regular uniform. It seems the sweater had bold, thinly spaced "pinstripes," almost a seersucker pattern, 39 years before the Phils debuted the pinstripe uniform in 1950. But then again, it may be an effect created by the black and white photo on a highly textured cloth.

I will also post the pictures in Wikimedia, if I can figure that out. The picture is free of copyright because it is more than 75 years old, owned by the United States Government, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Squonk64 (talk • contribs) 21:50, 26 May 2008 (UTC)