Non-goof, Goofs + Baseball and Alexander History

Someone has listed as a goof that this movie depicts Alexander winning the 1926 Series on his strikeout of Tony Lazzeri, when the game actually lasts two more innings. Well the movie certainly does depict that, showing Doris Day as Mrs. Alexander rushing to the Stadium when she learns Alex has been brought into pitch in that 7th inning in which the bases were loaded, but not arriving until the 9th when Alex was still on the mound.

There is however one goof. A player named Metkovich is seen in the movie. The real ballplayer George Metkovich does appear in the movie as an actor, but his career began well after Alex retired and no other player with that last name ever played with Alexander. There are a number of actual ballplayers in the movie portraying players, one of which is the great pitcher Bob Lemon as pitcher Jess Haines. The IMDb notes this, but later on also has Jack Lemmon in that role. This would appear to be an obvious goof as well.

Grover Cleveland Alexander actually did get beaned and did have double vision for an extended period of time. The unidentified illness that he suffered from was epilepsy, which may have been caused by that blow to the head. And while that may have contributed to his drinking, he drank heavily before he was diagnosed and continued drinking even after being traded to the Cardinals.

The movie shows Grover, or Pete as many of his teammates called him (another thing the movie doesn't mention), out of baseball for an extended period before Rogers Hornsby arranges for him to join the Cards. This wasn't really true. The Cubs simply traded him there. Pete actually did play for the House of David for about eight years, but not until his major league playing days were over. And just as an aside the House of David, despite the name and the players long beards were not as most people thought a team of religious Jews, but rather an organization of Christian evangelicals.

And Pete's career did not end with that 1926 Series. He actually played another 4 years with the Cards, having one of his better seasons in 1927, winning 21 games. He did not however play with Rogers Hornsby again, as Hornsby's reward for managing the team to a championship as a player/manager was a trade to the New York Giants. Hornsby's performance as a player had lessened due to the pressures of being both a player and the manager, but it quickly returned after that trade and his returning to the status of player only.

As the movie begins there is a picture of his Hall of Fame plaque which appeared to be doctored to make him look like Ronald Reagan. While Pete was named after one President and portrayed by a man who would one day be elected to that office, pictures of him as he aged revealed that he actually looked like a 3rd President, Dwight David Eisenhower.

And while certain liberties were taken with the facts presented, Alexander was a truly great player and today still holds the record for career wins by a National League pitcher and the mark for most shutouts in one season by a major leaguer. His excellence allows him to be one of a handfull of pitchers who can legitimately lay claim to the title of the greatest pitcher to ever play. Hornsby too, though as a hitter, was also one of the greatest players ever, and like Pete can also legitimately lay claim to that mantle of greatest ever, though as a batter.

And for those of you who are not big baseball fans, that is not a mistake. Hornsby's given name was Rogers, not Roger. It was his mother's maiden name.