Longevity in sports can be a double-edged sword. On one side, the longer something lasts, the more opportunities there are for positive memories, greatness, or the achievement of goals. The other side of the longevity sword allows for more failures and burnt bridges. For Doyle Alexander, his 19 seasons across the majors resulted in both.
Doyle Lafayette Alexander
Born: September 4, 1950 (Cordova, AL)
Yankees Tenure: 1976, 1982-1983
Born in a rural town north of Birmingham, Alabama, Alexander grew up
and attended Woodlawn High School in the city. Woodlawn also produced legendary Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden. Alexander was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ninth round of the 1968 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Woodlawn.
The 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher made quick work of climbing up the ranks in the Dodgers’ farm system. After pitching in the Northwest League after being drafted, Alexander reached Double-A the next season in 1969. Alexander remained in Double-A to start the 1970 season, but after an impressive 4-3 start to the season, the Dodgers promoted the 18-year-old to Triple-A Spokane.
Spokane would be Alexander’s home to start the 1971 season. After 15 starts and going 6-3 with a 3.44 ERA, the Dodgers called Alexander up to make his MLB debut. At just 20 years and 295 days old, Alexander made his Major League debut on June 26, 1971, going eight innings against the Padres. Doyle would go on to make 12 starts and appear in five more games, ending his rookie year with a 6-6 record and a 3.80 ERA across 92.1 innings.
During the offseason following the 1971 season, Alexander was used as the centerpiece of a trade, alongside three other prospects, to land future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson and Pete Richert from the Orioles. This would kick off Alexander’s longest tenure with any team, as he would spend 4.5 seasons in Baltimore. As an Oriole, Alexander appeared in 137 games, 64 of which were starts. His final career line with the club was 35-37 with a 3.41 ERA.
On June 15, 1976, Baltimore traded Alexander, along with Jimmy Freeman, Elrod Hendricks, Ken Holtzman, and Grant Jackson to the New York Yankees for Rick Dempsey, Tippy Martinez, Rudy May, Scott McGregor, and Dave Pagan. This would be Alexander’s first of two stints in the Bronx and the most successful one. Despite this trade working well for the Yankees at the time, Dempsey, Martinez, and McGregor would eventually help the Orioles win the 1983 World Series.
Alexander did exactly what the Yankees had hoped for when they traded for him. He went 10–5 with a 3.29 ERA down the stretch, helping the Yankees win the AL East and reach the 1976 World Series. Alexander was the starter for Game 1 of the 1976 World Series, a move many questioned Billy Martin for at the time, and took the loss. The Reds would go on to sweep the Yankees.
Following the season, Alexander became a part of the first-ever free agent class. After the Yankees would not promise him at least 20 starts per season, Alexander opted to sign with the Texas Rangers. Over the next few years, Alexander became a highly traveled journeyman.
The Rangers moved him to the Atlanta Braves in December 1979. Then, almost a year to the date later, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants. His whirlwind tour finally came back to the Bronx just before the start of the 1982 season when the Giants traded him to the Yankees in exchange for Andy McGaffigan and Ted Wilborn. Alexander held out of the Giants Spring Training, trying to secure a contract extension. That holdout might have contributed to Alexander’s second stint in pinstripes not going well.
Following the trade, Alexander signed a lucrative, for the time, four-year, $2.2 million contract extension. However, Alexander struggled mightily on the mound. Over a season and a half in 1982 and 1983, he limped to a dreadful 1–9 record with a 6.16 ERA.
The legend of patience himself, George Steinbrenner, quickly grew peeved at Alexader for his performance. Following a particularly rough outing, Steinbrenner said he was flying Alexander back to New York to undergo a physical, as something had to be wrong with the pitcher. Thoroughly disgusted, the Yankees ate the remainder of his salary and released him on May 31, 1983.
This move ultimately backfired when a rejuvenated Alexander signed with the division-rival Toronto Blue Jays on June 21st. Alexander would beat the Yankees at the end of the season, pitching a complete game in a 5-1 Blue Jays win to clinch the 1985 AL East crown on Steinbrenner’s own dime, no less.
Following this run with Toronto, Alexander was traded back to the Braves in July 1986 for future star reliever Duane Ward. After briefly testing free agency following the 1986 season, he ultimately re-signed with Atlanta.
In 1987, Atlanta traded Alexander to the Tigers in exchange for a minor league prospect named John Smoltz. This trade, the last one of his career, became a legendary piece of baseball lore: Alexander pitched brilliantly down the stretch, going 9–0 with a 1.53 ERA to push the Tigers to the 1987 American League East title, while Smoltz went on to have a first-ballot Hall of Fame career with the Braves.
Alexander remained with the Tigers for the rest of his career, testing free agency again in late 1988 before re-signing for one final season in Detroit. In 1988, at 37 years old, he earned his very first and only All-Star selection. Alexander endured a grueling final year as he battled a fractured jaw. The season resulted in a frustrating 6–18 record that led the American League in losses. Following the 1989 season, at 39 years old, Alexander officially called it a career.
Over his 19-year Major League career, Alexander compiled a final statline that included a 194–174 record, a 3.76 ERA, 561 games played including making 464 starts, 3,367.2 innings pitched, 1,528 strikeouts, and a 35.0 WAR. Following retirement, Alexander returned home to Alabama and remained mostly out of the public eye. In 2022, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Happy birthday, Doyle!
