The Washington herald., 1917-12-17
PHILS SECURE.
ALEX IN DRAFT
Quakers' Great Pitcher Cost
$750|Fnishes Tenth
Year as Professional.

Grover Cleveland Alexander, who
was sold Tuesday with Billy Kill
ifer for fancy price. is not an old
man as baseball players go and is
still in the prime of his career as a
pitcher. He will be 81 years old on
February 26 next.
He completer his tenth year in the
professional ranks and his seventh
with Philadelphia at the close of the
1917 season. The Phillies got him by
the draft route from Syracuse of tho
New York State League for the pal
try sum of $50 in the fall of 1910.
Alexander first played on an or
ganized team in 1908, when he pitcl
ed for the Central City, Neb., SER
professional nine. His birthpla,
was in the village of Elba, not &
from Central City. In 1909 he playo
with the Galesburg Club. of IT,
1llinois-Missouri League and pitche,
twenty-four games for a percentag
of .6S2. The following year he wa
drafted by Indianapolis and aftc
getting into only two games was re
leased optionally to 'the Syracus
Club of the New York State Leagu
1t was in the State League tha
Alexander made the reputation tn:
earned him his first and, until nov
his only berth in the major League
He pitched 43 games for the Salt G.
nine, winning 20 and losing IA, foi.
percentage of .674. His brilliant wO~
attracted the attention of the scous:
of the Phillies, and although he was
recalled by Indianapolis toward the
end OF the summer, he was taken up
by the Phillies in the draft and in
the spring Of 1911 donned a Philadel-
phia uniform for the first time.
In his first year in Philadelphia he
was a sensation. He went through
the season. pitching in 4S games, win
ming 2S and losing 13, compiling an
average Of .6S3, and allowing an aver
age of only 2.14 runs per nine-inning
game. He won 10 games and lost II
in 1912, won % and lost in 1913, won
u and lost Is in 1914 and won 81 and
lost 10 in 1915, the year the Phillies
won the National League champion
ship. In that year he achieved the
remarkable feat of allowing and aver
age Of only 1.22 runs per nine-inning
game. His pitching in the world
series was disappointment, for he
broke even in the two games he pitch
ed and was not equal to the task of
bringing the worlds championship to
Philadelphia.
In the season of 1916 Alexander was
second to Ferdy Schupp, of the Giants,
as the leading pitcher of the National
League. He pitched in 4S games, won
80 and lost Il, and his average of
runs per nine-inning game was 1.55.
Sixteen of his victories were shut
outs. In 1917. the season recently end
ed, he won 81 games.
William ]. Killifer is only a year
older than Alexander, but he is much
older In baseball experience. Killifer
was born In Paw Paw, Mich, April 13,
1886. and first broke into baseball in
1906 at st. Edwards College.
His first professional engagement
came in 1907 when he played with Kali
amazoo and Jackson in the Southern
Michigan League.
He both caught and played in the
outfield, but/in 1903 he became a full
fledged catcher, and played sixty-five
games with Austin in tho Texas
League, his batting average being .222.
He played with San Francisco in the
Pacific Coast League during the en-
suing winter, and In 1909 was with
Houston in the Texas League.
k1llffer was sold to the st. Louis
Cardinals on September 2, 1903. and
was with that club all the following
year, batting for an average of .12S.
He was released to Buffalo in the In
ternational League early in 1911, and
before the season was over was sold
to the Phillies. He has played with
that team ever since, his batting
average for the seven seasons he has
been with the Quakers averaging
slightly under .24o He dickered with
the Federal League in 1915. but finally
decided not to desert the Phillies.