Napoleon Lajoie
Second Base

1896-1900 Philadelphia Phillies
1901-02 Philadelphia Athletics
1902-14 Cleveland Indians
1915-16 Philadelphia Athletics

• Holds the American League record for highest season batting average--.426 in 1901.

• Was one of the main reasons for the early success in the American League's bid to rival the National League. Lajoie jumped to the AL in 1901 when A's manager Connie Mack offered him a four year $16,000 contract, a record in its time.

• The Phillies, upset over Lajoie's move to their crosstown AL rivals, were able to get a court injunction issued which prohibited Lajoie from playing for any other team in Philadelphia, so Mack was forced to trade his star to the Cleveland Indians.

• Had 3,242 career hits, only the third player in professional baseball history to collect more than 3,000 hits.

• Lajoie was so popular in Cleveland that for much of his playing career, the team was renamed the Cleveland "Naps," in honor of their superstar.

• Led the AL in every fielding category in two different seasons.

• In 1901, Lajoie won a Triple Crown. He also led the league in runs scored, hits, doubles, and slugging percentage that year.

1905 real photo postcard featuring Nap

• Lajoie won three batting titles in his career. After careful research, baseball historians have concluded that he deserves a fourth crown because of a scoring error in Ty Cobb's favor in 1910.

• Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.