Grand Slam Trophy Leagues
« Post Message »

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
May 24, 2013, 12:53pm


Grand Slam Trophy Leagues
Welcome to our forum!

We hope you enjoy your stay. If you are an existing member, please login below. Otherwise, please register.

Login using your social network or forum account:
Keep me logged in
Username:
Password:


Grand Slam Trophy Leagues :: General :: Baseball Stories :: Post Message
Post Reply
Name:
Subject:
Terms of Service: I agree to the ProBoards Terms of Service
Security Check:
Message Icon: icon
Add Tags:
Add Smilies:
Message:
Expand
Characters Remaining:
Disable Smilies: If this box is checked, smiley emoticons will be disabled in your message.
shortcuts: hit alt+s to send, alt+p to preview, alt+c to spell check, or alt+r to reset


Topic Summary
Posted by glasspoet on Nov 28, 2011, 12:42am
Nap Lajoie is possibly baseball's greatest player. He combined grace in the field and power at the plate. In the first year of the AL, he won a triple crown....batting .426 (still the major league modern record), leading the league in homers and RBI. He led the majors in batting average 5 times (would have won more if not for Ty Cobb), doubles 4 times, and RBI 3 times. But he was known just as much (or MORE) for his fielding. He was SO POPULAR that his team changed their name to the Naps in honor of him.

He might be known as the greatest player ever except for a few things: His temper, he was often named player/manager and couldn't handle the pressure (but did have a .550win%)--having sub-par seasons until rebounding after they let him quit managing, he was no leadoff hitter because he didn't take walks (he swung as hard as he could at ANYTHING even close to being a strike, but he didn't strike out either), and most importantly--he never played on a championship team (came oh so close a couple of times). It didn't help that he rightfully vocalized his anger for being left off the original cast into the Baseball Hall of Fame (he highlighted the 2nd class in 1937) and shunned professional baseball thereafter.

Why do I think he might be the most popular player ever? Let me tell you. I found out he, and his forever wife, died in Daytona Beach and went looking for their gravestone. I went to where my grandfather was buried first. I didn't find it, but in the very old (run down) part of the graveyard, I began to see all these grave markers honoring his accomplishments. This happened in graveyard after graveyard (I finally did find his gravestone). The next time I worked in Tallahassee, I went to the most noted graveyard---and in the oldest (and I mean OLDEST) section I found a couple more. Later in trips to Boston and New York City I found more.

Try it sometime for yourself. Go to your local graveyard and look for grave markers in memorial to Nap Lajoie. Hint: you'll need to go into the very OLDEST parts of the graveyard. As great as he was, he might be the most underrated/most forgotten player ever.


Click Here To Make This Board Ad-Free


This Board Hosted For FREE By ProBoards
Get Your Own Free Message Boards & Free Forums!
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Notice | FTC Disclosure | Report Abuse | Mobile