Pete Alexander
The man they called "Old Pete" threw with surgical precision through two decades, compiling a 2.56 ERA that still gleams like polished chrome nearly a century later. Alexander's 373 career wins tell only part of the story — his peak ERA+ of 238 in one dominant season reveals a pitcher who could bend reality itself around home plate.
What separated Alexander from his contemporaries wasn't just longevity, but sustained excellence across the dead-ball and live-ball eras. That 140 career ERA+ means he was 40 percent better than the average pitcher throughout his 20-year run, a remarkable feat considering he pitched through baseball's most dramatic offensive transformation. His 2,198 strikeouts came in an era when batters rarely whiffed, making each punchout a small masterpiece of craft over power.
Career · Hitting
20 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | PHI | 50 | 138 | 0 | 9 | .174 | — | — |
| 1912 | PHI | 46 | 102 | 2 | 13 | .186 | — | — |
| 1913 | PHI | 47 | 103 | 0 | 4 | .126 | — | — |
| 1914 | PHI | 48 | 137 | 0 | 7 | .234 | — | — |
| 1915 | PHI | 49 | 130 | 1 | 8 | .169 | — | — |
| 1916 | PHI | 49 | 138 | 0 | 9 | .239 | — | — |
| 1917 | PHI | 47 | 139 | 1 | 13 | .216 | — | — |
| 1918 | CHC | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | .100 | — | — |
| 1919 | CHC | 30 | 70 | 0 | 4 | .171 | — | — |
| 1920 | CHC | 46 | 118 | 1 | 14 | .229 | — | — |
| 1921 | CHC | 31 | 95 | 1 | 14 | .305 | — | — |
| 1922 | CHC | 33 | 85 | 0 | 11 | .176 | — | — |
| 1923 | CHC | 39 | 111 | 1 | 10 | .216 | — | — |
| 1924 | CHC | 21 | 65 | 1 | 10 | .231 | — | — |
| 1925 | CHC | 32 | 79 | 2 | 12 | .241 | — | — |
| 1926 | STL | 30 | 65 | 0 | 6 | .200 | — | — |
| 1927 | STL | 37 | 94 | 0 | 6 | .245 | — | — |
| 1928 | STL | 34 | 86 | 1 | 11 | .291 | — | — |
| 1929 | STL | 22 | 41 | 0 | 2 | .049 | — | — |
| 1930 | PHI | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .000 | — | — |
| Career | 703 | 1810 | 11 | 163 | .209 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
20 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | PHI | 48 | 367.0 | 28 | 13 | 2.57 | 131 | 227 | 1.128 |
| 1912 | PHI | 46 | 310.3 | 19 | 17 | 2.81 | 120 | 195 | 1.270 |
| 1913 | PHI | 47 | 306.3 | 22 | 8 | 2.79 | 110 | 159 | 1.185 |
| 1914 | PHI | 46 | 355.0 | 27 | 15 | 2.38 | 123 | 214 | 1.135 |
| 1915 | PHI | 49 | 376.3 | 31 | 10 | 1.22 | 238 | 241 | 0.842 |
| 1916 | PHI | 48 | 389.0 | 33 | 12 | 1.55 | 179 | 167 | 0.959 |
| 1917 | PHI | 45 | 388.0 | 30 | 13 | 1.83 | 147 | 200 | 1.010 |
| 1918 | CHC | 3 | 26.0 | 2 | 1 | 1.73 | 164 | 15 | 0.846 |
| 1919 | CHC | 30 | 235.0 | 16 | 11 | 1.72 | 180 | 121 | 0.928 |
| 1920 | CHC | 46 | 363.3 | 27 | 14 | 1.91 | 181 | 173 | 1.112 |
| 1921 | CHC | 31 | 252.0 | 15 | 13 | 3.39 | 119 | 77 | 1.266 |
| 1922 | CHC | 33 | 245.7 | 16 | 13 | 3.63 | 115 | 48 | 1.290 |
| 1923 | CHC | 39 | 305.0 | 22 | 12 | 3.19 | 126 | 72 | 1.108 |
| 1924 | CHC | 21 | 169.3 | 12 | 5 | 3.03 | 136 | 33 | 1.228 |
| 1925 | CHC | 32 | 236.0 | 15 | 11 | 3.39 | 134 | 63 | 1.267 |
| 1926 | STL | 30 | 200.3 | 12 | 10 | 3.05 | 135 | 47 | 1.108 |
| 1927 | STL | 37 | 268.0 | 21 | 10 | 2.52 | 162 | 48 | 1.116 |
| 1928 | STL | 34 | 243.7 | 16 | 9 | 3.36 | 123 | 59 | 1.227 |
| 1929 | STL | 22 | 132.0 | 9 | 8 | 3.89 | 118 | 33 | 1.303 |
| 1930 | PHI | 9 | 21.7 | 0 | 3 | 9.14 | 53 | 6 | 2.123 |
| Career | 696 | 5189.9 | 373 | 208 | — | — | 2198 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.