Nap Lajoie
The greatest second baseman of baseball's dead-ball era hit .338 over 21 seasons — a mark that remains the second-highest career average for any second sacker in history. Lajoie's combination of contact hitting and power was revolutionary for his position, driving in 1,599 runs when most middle infielders were expected to be defensive specialists who barely cracked .250.
His impact transcended statistics. The Cleveland franchise was literally renamed "the Naps" in his honor from 1903-1914, making him perhaps the only player to have a major league team named after him. That kind of reverence came from his graceful fielding style and consistent offensive production year after year.
Lajoie retired with 82 home runs, impressive for an era when the entire American League hit just 29 homers in 1907. His .338 career average tells the real story — this was a hitter who made contact an art form while playing premium defense at second base.
Career · Batting
21 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1896 | PHI | 39 | 175 | 4 | 42 | .326 | — | — |
| 1897 | PHI | 127 | 545 | 9 | 127 | .361 | — | — |
| 1898 | PHI | 147 | 608 | 6 | 127 | .324 | — | — |
| 1899 | PHI | 77 | 312 | 6 | 70 | .378 | — | — |
| 1900 | PHI | 102 | 451 | 7 | 92 | .337 | — | — |
| 1901 | PHA | 131 | 544 | 14 | 125 | .426 | — | — |
| 1902 | CLE | 87 | 352 | 7 | 65 | .378 | — | — |
| 1903 | CLE | 125 | 485 | 7 | 93 | .344 | — | — |
| 1904 | CLE | 140 | 553 | 5 | 102 | .376 | — | — |
| 1905 | CLE | 65 | 249 | 2 | 41 | .329 | — | — |
| 1906 | CLE | 152 | 602 | 0 | 91 | .355 | — | — |
| 1907 | CLE | 137 | 509 | 2 | 63 | .301 | — | — |
| 1908 | CLE | 157 | 581 | 2 | 74 | .289 | — | — |
| 1909 | CLE | 128 | 469 | 1 | 47 | .324 | — | — |
| 1910 | CLE | 159 | 592 | 4 | 76 | .383 | — | — |
| 1911 | CLE | 90 | 315 | 2 | 60 | .365 | — | — |
| 1912 | CLE | 117 | 448 | 0 | 90 | .368 | — | — |
| 1913 | CLE | 137 | 465 | 1 | 68 | .335 | — | — |
| 1914 | CLE | 121 | 419 | 0 | 50 | .258 | — | — |
| 1915 | PHA | 129 | 490 | 1 | 61 | .280 | — | — |
| 1916 | PHA | 113 | 426 | 2 | 35 | .246 | — | — |
| Career | 2480 | 9590 | 82 | 1599 | .338 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.