Nap Lajoie Marquee Hall of Fame 1937

b. September 5, 1874 · Philadelphia Phillies 1896–1900, Philadelphia Athletics 1901–1902, 1915–1916, Cleveland Bronchos 1902, Cleveland Naps 1903–1914

He jumped from the Phillies to the new American League in 1901 and hit .426, on 232 hits in 544 at-bats. No one has batted higher in a season since. He also led the league that year in hits, runs, runs batted in and home runs, with 14, and was awarded the Triple Crown.

A Pennsylvania court then barred him from playing for the Athletics inside the state, and he went to Cleveland instead. The club took his name: it played as the Naps from 1903 through 1914, exactly the seasons he spent as its second baseman, and reverted to the Indians after he left.

He doubled twice against the Yankees on September 27, 1914 for his 3,000th hit, the second man to reach the mark that season after Honus Wagner in June. He finished with 3,243 hits, 657 doubles and a .338 average over twenty-one seasons. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1937, a year after the inaugural class.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
Baseball Magazine All-Star	2	1908, 1910
Triple Crown (batting)	1	1901

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1896	PHI	39	175	36	57	12	7	4	42	1	11	7	.326
1897	PHI	127	545	107	197	40	23	9	127	15	25	20	.361
1898	PHI	147	608	113	197	43	11	6	127	21	23	25	.324
1899	PHI	77	312	70	118	19	9	6	70	12	7	13	.378
1900	PHI	102	451	95	152	33	12	7	92	10	8	22	.337
1901	PHA	131	544	145	232	48	14	14	125	24	9	27	.426
1902	CLE/PHA	87	352	81	133	35	5	7	65	19	7	20	.378
1903	CLE	125	485	90	167	41	11	7	93	24	26	21	.344
1904	CLE	140	553	92	208	49	15	5	102	27	19	29	.376
1905	CLE	65	249	29	82	12	2	2	41	17	8	11	.329
1906	CLE	152	602	88	214	48	9	0	91	30	19	20	.355
1907	CLE	137	509	53	153	30	6	2	63	30	28	24	.301
1908	CLE	157	581	77	168	32	6	2	74	47	20	15	.289
1909	CLE	128	469	56	152	33	7	1	47	35	19	13	.324
1910	CLE	159	592	94	227	51	7	4	76	60	18	26	.383
1911	CLE	90	315	36	115	20	1	2	60	26	15	13	.365
1912	CLE	117	448	66	165	34	4	0	90	28	11	18	.368
1913	CLE	137	465	66	156	25	2	1	68	33	17	17	.335
1914	CLE	121	419	37	108	14	3	0	50	32	15	14	.258
1915	PHA	129	490	40	137	24	5	1	61	11	16	10	.280
1916	PHA	113	426	33	105	14	4	2	35	14	26	15	.246
Career	—	2480	9590	1504	3243	657	163	82	1599	516	347	380	.338

On this day & linked events

1874

Born September 5, 1874

Woonsocket, RI, USA

1959

Died February 7, 1959

1896

Major-league debut: Nap Lajoie

Nap Lajoie made a major-league debut on August 12, 1896.

1914

Honus Wagner's 3,000th Hit

Honus Wagner singles at Cincinnati at the age of 40, reaching 3,000 hits in his eighteenth major league season.

1914

Nap Lajoie's 3,000th Hit

Nap Lajoie doubles twice against the Yankees in Cleveland, joining Honus Wagner as the second man to reach 3,000 hits in the 1914 season alone.

1916

Final major-league game: Nap Lajoie

Nap Lajoie played a final major-league game on August 26, 1916.

Image: Harris & Ewing, photographer, public domain