NAP TIME

Lajoie brought baseball to life in Cleveland (Bob Dolgan, 04/28/03, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

The city of Cleveland was described as being baseball-mad on the balmy afternoon of April 28, 1903, one hundred years ago today.

The game was memorable because Napoleon Lajoie was playing in his first home opener in Cleveland. The great second baseman was the best player in the American League at the time.

Even though Lajoie went hitless in Cleveland's 6-2 victory over St. Louis, he was the center of attention. He was in three pictures in The Plain Dealer, including one on Page One which had the caption, "Larry at Practice." Another photo showed him discussing the ground rules with umpires.

A record throng of 19,867, mostly men wearing derby hats and suits, was stuffed into League Park at East 66th and Lexington Avenue. A hastily constructed bleacher section in right field crashed, dropping hundreds of fans to the ground. One man's leg was broken. Another was knocked out.

The crowd overflowed onto the outfield, where it was held back by ropes and police. Thousands of fans were turned away at the box office.

The Cleveland Leader said a band played "In the Good Old Summertime," as the Indians strode onto the field, led by Lajoie and teammate Jack McCarthy. McCarthy's bulldog walked jauntily between them.

When Lajoie came to bat in the first inning, batboy Petie Powers doffed his cap, bowed and presented him with a bouquet of flowers. That was the third photo of Lajoie.

The Frenchman from Rhode Island wound up the season hitting .355, winning the league batting championship. In that period the batting title was the most important statistic in baseball.

Only a year earlier, there had been talk that Cleveland might lose its franchise, for attendance was so low. But that all changed when Lajoie was acquired from the Philadelphia Athletics in June 1902.

He immediately became the team savior as fans poured in to watch him perform.

Writers and fans of that era almost always referred to his startling grace around second base. At 6-1 and 195 pounds, he was a big man in a time when most players were about 5-9 and 160. Until Shoeless Joe Jackson came along, he was called the best natural hitter in baseball.

Popular as he was, he might not have attained that status today, when the media is quick to call an athlete a head case for minor transgressions.

Funny how hitting .420 and filling the seats turns one from a headcase to a character... Posted by Orrin Judd at May 23, 2003 12:26 PM