1961 Fleer Autograph Project - Part 46

 It appears I am back to my intermittent posting. I have been busy at work and home and, honestly, gawking in grim astonishment at the world around us.  But cards should be an escape from reality, so I will put that aside.

Here is another example of a player in the 1961 Fleer Greats set that really isn't necessarily what you would consider all all-time great, though his career was a bit different than the other players I tagged previously with that scarlet letter. The others were players that had long, but workmanlike, careers.  Alexander had a short career of only 5 years but was quite the phenom for most of that time. A career (!) .331 hitter, he topped .325 in every year in the majors with the exception of his final injury plagued year, where he put up a creditable .281 over 339 plate appearances.

So, let's learn a bit more about Dale:

1. The son of a tobacco farmer, he took up the same work outside his baseball career. However, he was never a user of tobacco.
2. A college graduate, he played baseball for both Milligan College and Tusculum College. He was inducted posthumously in the Tusculum Hall of Fame in 1985. He was joined by his grandson, Steve. in 2001. Steve played baseball there and was the 1990 and 1991 team MVP.
3. He put in 5 years in the minors, starting at his hometown Class D Greeneville Burley Cubs in 1924 and topping out in 1927 and 1928 with the AA Maple Leafs.
4. His 1928 season in Toronto saw him hitting .380 with 236 hits, including 49 doubles, 11 triples, and 31 homeruns.  That was good for 144 RBIs.
5. In 1929, in his first season with Detroit, he hit .343, with 215 hits, including 43 doubles, 15 triples, and 25 homeruns.  That led to 137 RBIs.
6. In 1931, he seemed to lose all power though he still batted .325.  1932 started off poorly and was put on waivers by Detroit.  On June 13, he was traded to Boston where he caught fire.  In 101 games down the stretch for the Red Sox, he hit .372 with a .454 OBP and captured the AL batting title beating out none other than Jimmie Foxx.
7. A injury on Memorial Day in 1933 led the Boston trainer to use diathermy, a new technique to use deep heat to speed healing. Unfortunately, the trainer left the device on too long and burned Alexander's leg.
8. After 1933, he only appeared in the minors, but was successful over the course of 5 full and 4 partial seasons including time as a player-manager, finally hanging up his spikes after the 1942 season.
9. After that final 1942 season he returned to farming and occasional scouting.
10. He never really received recognition from Boston as their first batting champ, but not one to look back, he never was embittered by his MLB career ending injury or his subsequent shoddy treatment by the team.
11. He passed away in 1979 after 9 years of fitting prostate cancer.
    
    

What I am listening to: If the Sun Never Rises Again by Johnny Blue Skies (Sturgill Simpson)