| When Connie Mack enticed Napoleon Lajoie to leave the National League with an offer of close to $6,000 yearly to join his Philadelphia Athletics in 1901, you can safetly assume that he got his money's worth. Lajoie, the most powerful hitter in all-of-baseball was simply red-hot and assaulted the new league's pitchers. He collected the Triple Crown by hitting a league-high 14 home runs, drove-in 125 runs and hit an unsurpassable .422.
No player in the history of the American League ever reached 'Naps' .422. Despite the 100 years that have now passed, not even the bruising hitting of legends Ty Cobb, "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, George Sisler, Babe Ruth nor Ted Williams could break Lajoie's record. And by historical records Napoleon Lajoie "was as graceful and smooth with his glove work as he was fearsome at bat." baseballhistorian.com Archives - Research Dept. |
