#CardCorner: 1974 Topps Doyle Alexander

History will forever record that Doyle Alexander, just shy of 37 years old and with a 5-10 record for the Atlanta Braves, was traded straight up for a future Hall of Famer on Aug. 12, 1987.

What that sentence fails to note, however, is that Alexander proceeded to become one of the best trade-deadline acquisitions in the history of the game – leading his new team, the Tigers, to a postseason berth. And while John Smoltz went onto a career that would bring him to Cooperstown, Tigers fans – in the fall of 1987 – had no qualms with the deal or the stellar work of Alexander.

Doyle Lafayette Alexander was born Sept. 4, 1950, in Cordova, Ala. – a textile mill town located about a half hour northwest of Birmingham. He played high school ball at Woodlawn in Birmingham, handling first base while not pitching and failing to attract much attention. As a freshman, he opted to play Pony League ball instead of for his high school team.

“I knew Doyle was competitive and a very hard worker,” Braves scout Dicky Martin told the Birmingham Post-Herald in 1989. “But I thought he was a little short velocity-wise. Very few people were interested in Doyle.”

But Joe Campbell, a part-time Dodgers scout who umpired many of Alexander’s games, thought the right-hander’s sinking fastball would play in professional baseball. The Dodgers took Alexander in the ninth round of the June 1968 MLB Draft.

“We kept him in town for eight days, hiding him out at the old airport apartments and working with him,” Campbell told the Post-Herald. “And then we signed him and sent him off to the Dodgers’ Tri-City team in the Northwest League.”

For a bonus of $1,500, the Dodgers got a pitcher who would one day be involved in two separate trades featuring future Hall of Famers.

“Fastball-wise, curveball-wise, Doyle was not a great pro prospect,” Tandy Gerelds, Alexander’s coach at Woodlawn High School, told the Post-Herald. “But he had that sinker at an early age.”

Alexander struggled in his first season in pro ball in 1968, going 3-9 with a 4.11 ERA for the Tri-City Atoms in Kennewick, Wash. But when he moved up to Class A Daytona Beach of the Florida State League in 1969, Alexander went 13-9 with a 2.72 ERA before earning a late-season promotion to Double-A Albuquerque. After a stint in the Arizona Instructional League after the season, Alexander began the 1970 campaign with Albuquerque and then moved to Triple-A Spokane – finishing the season with a combined record of 13-10 with a 3.44 ERA. His control for his age – he strung together 40 straight innings without a walk for Spokane – put him on the Dodgers’ radar, and the team invited him to its big league Spring Training camp in 1971 after a strong performance in the Dominican Winter League for manager Tommy Lasorda.

“He continues to keep the ball down,” Lasorda told the Post-Herald about Alexander in the late winter of 1971, “and he has uncanny control.”

Alexander was hopeful of making the Dodgers’ roster for Opening Day 1971 but was sent back to Spokane. However, after going 6-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 15 starts, Alexander was brought up to the Dodgers and immediately inserted into the starting rotation, allowing just two runs and no walks over eight innings in his first game against the Padres on June 26.

Alexander picked up his first big league win six days later against San Diego in a complete game effort and remained in the rotation for much of the rest of the season, going 6-6 with a 3.80 ERA in 92 innings. Then, on Dec. 2, Alexander has his first brush with Cooperstown when he was one of four players sent to the Orioles in exchange for Pete Richert and future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson.

Meanwhile, Alexander found his form again in Atlanta, going 14-11 with a 4.20 ERA in 35 starts, striking out 114 batters while walking 74. But Alexander was unhappy with his contract, and – per the collective bargaining agreement – demanded a trade following the 1980 season when the Braves declined to renegotiate. At the time, players who were traded and reached a certain level of service time could demand another trade after one season with their new team.

“It’ll be tough to leave (manager) Bobby Cox, as good as he’s been to me,” Alexander told the Associated Press. “And I’d like to stay. But right now, it’s 50/50 I’ll leave.”

On Dec. 12, 1980, the Braves traded Alexander to the Giants in exchange for John Montefusco and a minor leaguer. Alexander then proceeded to have what might have been his best season to date, going 11-7 with a 2.89 ERA in 24 starts in the strike-shortened 1981 season. But he remained dissatisfied with his contract and refused to report to Spring Training in 1982.

Alexander reportedly rejected trades to the Tigers and Royals that spring.

“As far as I’m concerned, he can sit out the season,” Giants general manager Tom Haller told the AP. “That may sound like a hard line, but we tried in good faith to make a trade.”

On March 30, the Giants finally found a trade partner when they sent Alexander back to the Yankees in exchange for Andy McGaffigan and Ted Wilborn. The Yankees quickly signed Alexander to a four-year extension worth a reported $2.2 million.

But Alexander’s return to New York was a rocky one. His holdout rankled some of his Yankees teammates, and he didn’t make his first appearance until April 24 as he worked back into pitching shape. In his third start, Alexander allowed five runs (but only one earned) in three innings against the Mariners – in a game where Gaylord Perry notched his 300th win – then punched a dugout wall in frustration and broke the pinky finger on his pitching hand. The injury sidelined Alexander for two months, and he agreed to forfeit $65,000 in salary because of the self-inflicted broken finger.

“It’s very simple: What I did was wrong,” Alexander told the AP. “I can’t hold (the Yankees) responsible for what I did.”

Alexander struggled upon his return, was sent to the minors and did not post his first victory until Sept. 28, finishing the big league season with a 1-7 record and 6.08 ERA. After starting the 1983 campaign 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA, Alexander was released on May 31. But Alexander rejoined his old friend Bobby Cox with the Blue Jays on June 21, and Alexander went 7-6 with a 3.93 ERA in 116.2 innings for Toronto during the rest of 1983.

Then in 1984, Alexander pitched like the ace he had seemed destined to become a decade before. He led the Jays with 17 wins against only six losses, topping all pitchers with a .739 winning percentage while working a career-best 261.2 innings. He virtually duplicated that season a year later, going 17-10 with a 3.45 ERA in 260.2 innings while finishing sixth in the AL Cy Young Award voting.

Toronto won the AL East, and Alexander started Game 3 of the ALCS vs. the Royals, allowing five runs over five innings while earning a no-decision. He returned to start Game 5 and this time allowed five runs over 5.1 innings, taking the loss in a 5-3 Kansas City win. The Royals would win Game 7 to advance to the World Series.

In 1986, Alexander asked for a contract extension as he entered the last year of his contract. When the Blue Jays refused, Alexander asked to be traded – and Toronto sent him back to the Braves, where Cox was now the general manager, in exchange for Duane Ward on July 6. It would be a deal that would pay dividends for the Blue Jays for years – but also one that would benefit the Braves after yet another trade involving Alexander.

“I feel right now I’m a better pitcher than I’ve ever been,” Alexander told the Atlanta Constitution after the trade. “I’m happy to be with Atlanta. I enjoyed my year in Atlanta. I really didn’t want to leave, but that happens.”

Alexander finished the season with an overall record of 11-10 and a 4.14 ERA. But he found no suitable offers following the year and sat out Spring Training, coming to terms with the Braves on May 5, 1987, on a two-year deal worth a reported $1.5 million. He was 5-10 with a 4.13 ERA through 16 starts when the Braves sent him to the Tigers on Aug. 12 for a little-known minor leaguer named John Smoltz.

Alexander then proceeded to pitch the Tigers into the postseason, going 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 starts as Detroit caught and passed Toronto in the AL East. The Tigers began the final three games of the season against Toronto trailing by one game, and Alexander started the first game of the series on Oct. 2. After allowing a three-run homer to Manuel Lee in the second inning, Alexander blanked the Blue Jays over five innings, inducing three double play balls. Mike Henneman closed the door in the eighth and ninth to give Detroit a 4-3 win, leaving the teams in a tie atop the division. Detroit won the next two games – both coming by one run as well – to take the title.

“He really provided us with the spark we needed,” Tigers coach Alex Grammas told the Post-Herald during the late summer of 1987. “When you get somebody like that, who starts doing what he did for us, it kind of ignites everybody else. We had a good team that year anyway, but when Doyle came over and pitched the way he did, it sort of snowballed. It made everyone else play better and not just in his games but all the time.”

Alexander started Games 1 and 5 of the ALCS vs. the Twins but was unable to duplicate his regular season magic, allowing six runs over 7.1 innings in the opener and then getting knocked out of the box in the second inning of Game 5 as the Twins scored four times en route to a 9-5 series-clinching win.

Alexander went 14-11 with a 4.32 ERA in 1988, earning his first All-Star Game selection but voicing displeasure with his contract, which was due to expire at the end of the year. He re-signed with Detroit on Jan. 13, 1989, for one year and a reported $1.1 million, but the 1989 season saw the Tigers lose 103 games and Alexander post a 6-18 record and 4.44 ERA over 223 innings while leading the AL with 28 homers allowed.

When the Tigers did not offer Alexander a contract for the 1990 season, his career came to an end. Over 19 big league seasons, Alexander was 194-174 with a 3.76 ERA. Often vilified for his contract demands and taciturn nature, Alexander pitched well for some of the best teams of his era – and was routinely traded for players who would star for their new franchises.

“Doyle is basically quiet,” Tigers coach Alex Grammas told the Post-Herald during Alexander’s incredible late-season stretch. “He’s willing to talk, but generally speaking, you have to initiate the conversation. He minds his own business, and lets his actions speak for him.”

Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum