There is almost something mythical about what Grover Cleveland Alexander accomplished in 1911 when you place the numbers beside the reality of the era.
Alexander was a 24-year-old rookie that season — a pitcher the Phillies drafted out of Syracuse of the New York State League in September of 1910 — and within a year, he had become the backbone of the franchise.
He finished the season 28-13 with a 2.57 ERA, led the National League in innings pitched and finished 31 of his 45 starts, an immense workload even in an era built around complete games. Alexander also finished third in Chalmers Award voting, the precursor to today’s MVP Award.
And according to records published by The Sporting News in 1952, Alexander earned just $1,500 during that rookie season.
The game looked different then. The salaries looked different. But even in an age when pitchers were expected to carry enormous workloads, Alexander was operating in a different universe.
The scoreless streak itself began quietly on Sept. 4 against Brooklyn, when Alexander recorded the final out of the seventh inning in a loss. What followed became one of the great pitching runs in Phillies history.
Alexander ripped through the National League with four consecutive shutouts, allowing just 14 hits across those 36 innings while walking six and striking out 23. By the time the Phillies arrived in St. Louis later that month, the rookie right-hander had turned dominance into routine.
Finally, on Sept. 24, 1911, at Robison Field, the streak ended.
Jack Bliss opened the sixth inning with a walk before Rebel Oakes pushed him home with a fielder’s choice, snapping Alexander’s streak at 41 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings during an 8-2 Phillies victory over the Cardinals.
The final numbers across the six-game stretch were staggering even by Deadball Era standards: 41 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, 16 hits allowed, seven walks and 27 strikeouts — good for a microscopic 0.55 WHIP.
For 115 years, the name attached to the record belonged to baseball royalty.
Hall of Famer. Dead-ball titan. The greatest pitcher in franchise history.
Not Carlton. Not Roberts. Not Halladay. Not Hamels. Not Wheeler.
Not until Cristopher Sánchez.
And what Sánchez is doing looks almost impossible through a modern lens.
The Phillies left-hander has now stretched the streak to 44 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings across six starts, striking out 52 while walking just three. Opponents have managed only 26 hits during the run, leaving Sánchez with a 0.65 WHIP while carving through lineups with a power sinker, disappearing changeup and relentless strike-throwing.
Yet Sánchez pointed elsewhere afterward.
“It’s not only about me or what I do on the mound,” Sánchez said in San Diego. “It’s really something special and beautiful to feel the support of the team as a whole.”
The remarkable part is how normal Sánchez is beginning to make this look.
Hitters are squaring baseballs up. They simply are not finding openings. Fernando Tatis Jr. reached second base with nobody out Wednesday afternoon in San Diego and never scored. Manny Machado twice drove balls toward the warning track, and twice Sánchez watched them settle harmlessly into gloves instead of seats.
Nothing unravels.
Nothing seems to anymore when Sánchez takes the mound.
Unlike Alexander, Sánchez is doing this while navigating pitch limits, specialized bullpens, advanced scouting departments and matchup-heavy lineups specifically designed to prevent pitchers from working deep into games.
Alexander dominated in an era built around complete games.
Sánchez is dominating in an era designed to prevent streaks like this from ever happening.
Now the question remains, just how long can Sanchez go?
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