If anyone ever had a sadder ending to his career it had to be Pete, Grover Cleveland Alexander, the once great pitcher Philly and Boston. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/79e6a2a7 Not only did he suffer from epilepsy when it was thought to be some kind of demonic possession he also went to war in WWI and suffered the effects of "shell shock" and a bit of shrapnel in his ear. Despite that he still put together some eye popping numbers on the mound until alcohol finally took it's toll on him. For reasons that make no sense in today's world people believed it was better to be a drunkard than to be seen as having epilepsy..
Kind of tough to imagine in today's world, but many players went to war (drafted or enlisted) back then to either be killed or have to deal with the many effects of such later.. Sad one indeed..
One paragraph in the article makes it even sadder.. "Alexander's desperate situation found relief only in his election to the Hall of Fame in 1938. He pulled himself together enough to go to Cooperstown for the first induction ceremony on June 12, 1939, and thoroughly enjoyed the time with the honorees. It was bittersweet, though, as Alex said in 1944, "I'm in the Hall of Fame, . . . and I'm proud to be there, but I can't eat the Hall of Fame.""
Originally Posted by 50YrRedsFan
