Why he is significant: His stature becoming lost in the mists of time, Lajoie may be the player with the least name recognition among current baseball fans relative to his importance. He was perhaps THE preeminent star of the turn of the century, whose popularity and success were crucial to the survival of the then-stuggling American League. His jumping contract from the Philadelphia Phillies to join the AL was a major milestone in the game's history. He was a major star for two decades, and was so beloved in Cleveland that the team was for a time called the "Naps" in his honor.

Lajoie was voted #38 in the SABR poll of greatest players of the Twentieth Century. As I was filling out our ballot for the Baseball Digest greatest players poll, I had a hard time convincing my son to put Lajoie on the list. ("But Dad, I never HEARD of Nap Lajoie".) We finally put him in at #50, but I expect that he should be rated much higher, which motivated me to profile him here.

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