Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander, noted major league baseball pitcher, was born near Elba, Nebraska in l887. He started his baseball career in Central City. Later, while playing for a Galesburg, Illinois team, his talent was recognized by the Philadelphia Phillies, and he played for them for seven years. He was then sold to the Chicago Cubs, and later, in l928 he joined the St. Louis Cardinals. His big league career ended in l929, but he continued to play for independent clubs for another ten years.
His outstanding pitching records earned him a place in the Cooperstown, New York Baseball Hall of Fame in l938. He pitched in the National League from l9ll to l929 and won 373 games and lost 208. Other accomplishments which remain high in all-time major league records include ranking fourth in career victories, first in shutouts pitched in one season, second in career shutouts, and sixth in innings pitched. In the l926 World Series, when he nearly forty years old, he was credited with the final game victory by a strike out in the seventh inning with the bases loaded.
Suffering from alcoholism and other health problems, Alexander retired to Saint Paul, Nebraska, in l949 and died there November 4, l950. His life story was portrayed in a l952 movie, "The Winning Team," starring Ronald Reagan and Doris Day.