The first star of the American League, Napoleon Lajoie is the 45th inductee into the Hall of Immortals.
Lajoie started his carer with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1896, batting .324 or better over his first 5 seaosns. When the new upstart American League was launched in 1901, he jumped ship and signed with the new team cross town, the Athletics.
During his first year in the AL Lajoie won the triple crown, batting .426, with 14 HRs (a lot in 1901) and 125 RBIs. His .426 average is still the single season modern-era record.
Lajoie would bat over .300 in 18 of his 21 seasons, achieving a lifetime batting average of .338 while amassing more than 3,200 hits.
In the field Lajoie was one of the best at 2nd base, leading the league in fielding percentage 6 times.
Lajoie was so good, while he was with Cleveland the team renamed themselves The Naps. How many players can say that?
Nobody can doubt that Napoleon Lajoie is an Immortal.
For some background on what this is, check out the introduction post here.
