Pete Alexander Marquee Hall of Fame 1938

He took the National League pitching triple crown three times, in 1915, 1916, and 1920. The middle one was the extreme: 33-12 with 16 shutouts, a single-season total matched only by George Bradley in 1876 and by nobody since. The year before that he had gone 31-10 with a 1.22 ERA.

The Army took him in 1918 after three games for the Cubs. He served in France as an artillery sergeant, was gassed at the front, and came home deaf in one ear and subject to epileptic seizures. He drank heavily for the rest of his life, and teammates learned to work around a fit in the dugout.

None of it stopped him pitching. He won 181 games from 1919 on, finished with 90 shutouts and 437 complete games, and ended where he began, going 0-3 for the Phillies at 43. Only Walter Johnson, with 110, has thrown more career shutouts. The Hall of Fame elected him in 1938.