Nap Lajoie
| Birthdate | 9/5/1874 |
| Death Date | 2/7/1959 |
| Debut Year | 1896 |
| Year of Induction | 1937 |
| Teams | Athletics, Indians, Phillies |
| Positions | First Base, Second Base |
Nap Lajoie won 5 batting crowns including four in a row from 1901-1904. His .426 average in 1901 capped the 20th century’s first Triple Crown.
In the collection:
Government postcard autographed by Larry Lajoie postmarked July 4, 1949
Government postcard autographed by Larry Lajoie postmarked July 4, 1949
In the collection is a government postcard (GPC) autographed by Larry Lajoie and dated July 1, 1949. The postmark is from three days later on the 4th of July from Lajoie’s home town. A five-time batting champ, Lajoie hit a career-high .426 in 1901 and was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1937.
Letter from former AL President about 1910 batting title
Letter from former AL President about 1910 batting title
In the collection is a letter from Lee MacPhail with interesting content in a letter about the 1910 batting race.
Before the 1910 season Hugh Chalmers, head of the Chalmers Automobile Company announced that the batting champions from both leagues would receive a Chalmers 30 automobile as part of a promotion. Ty Cobb appeared a shoe in to drive away with the new car and chose to sit out Detroit’s final two games.
Nap Lajoie of the Cleveland Indians squared off for a season-ending double header against the St. Louis Browns. Hoping to aid the popular Lajoie, St. Louis skipper Jack O’Connor instructed third baseman Red Corrigan to play on the outfield grass, conceding any bunt attempts as base hits. Lajoie went 8-for-8 and a controversy was born.
American League president Ban Johnson declared Cobb the batting champ based on his average of .358069 to Lajoie’s .384059. The controversy was dissolved when Chalmers award each of the players a new car.
In 1978, Pete Palmer discovered a discrepancy in Cobb’s career hit total, and the story was broken by The Sporting News in April 1981. Initially recorded at 4,191, researchers say that a Detroit Tigers box score was counted twice in the season-ending calculations. The statisticians gave Cobb an extra 2-for-3. Not only did this credit Cobb with two non-existent hits, it also raised his 1910 batting average from .383 to .385. As Lajoie is credited with a .384 average for the 1910 season, the revised figure would have cost Cobb one of his 12 batting titles and reduced his career average to .366.
O’Connor and coach Harry Howell, who tried to bribe the official scorer to change the error to a hit, were banned from baseball for their role. The ensuing mathematical mess was described by one writer as follows: “It could be said that 1910 produced two bogus leading batting averages, and one questionable champion.”
