There’s plenty to like about Napoleon Lajoie’s 1901 card. In fact, I’ll make a list:
- he is rated at two demanding positions and plays them both well (2B-9 SS-8)
- he’s rated (F)ast
- he only has one 13
- FIVE 0s!
- he has sevens on the top and a 53-9 (necessitating a 21-18)
- against a D pitcher, he has five hits from 61 to 66 with the hit and run on
In all seriousness, Lajoie’s card is quite amazing especially considering his deadball environment of 1901. Here are his actual stats from that year.
| Year | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901 | PHA | 131 | 582 | 544 | 145 | 232 | 48 | 14 | 14 | 125 | 27 | 24 | 9 | .426 | .463 | .643 |
By far and away, Philadelphia A’s secondbaseman Lajoie was the offensive standout in the AL in 1901. He led the league in most hitting categories including runs (145), hits (232), average (.426), homeruns (14), rbis (125), yeah I could go on. His .426 average ranks 4th all-time and is the highest among all hitters after the turn of century.
My thanks for this week’s suggestion go to Scott Fennessy who just finished a 1901 replay and is quite familiar with Lajoie’s exploits. In fact, Lajoie replicated his star status in Scott’s replay by winning the MVP. He closely resembled his actual stats by hitting .422 with 15 homeruns and 147 rbis for Scott.
Very nearly a first-column 1. In the dead ball era. A monster card indeed!