MLB: Five Toughest Player Names To Spell
Napoleon Lajoie
Lajoie might be the only player in big league history to have both a team and a blog named after him. The Hall of Famer was traded by Connie Mack and the Philadelphia Athletics in 1902 in what appears today to be a repyament on a defaulted loan to a Cleveland franchise that made him player-manager and renamed the club the Naps,. Today Lajoie is the namesake of the Indians’ blog on ESPN’s Sweet Spot network.
Lajoie played from 1896 to 1916, with his 21 years split 13 in Cleveland and 8 with the A’s. He won five American League batting titles, including four straight from 1901 to 1904, the 1901 triple crown, and amassed 3,243 career hits. For his career, Lajoie still ranks in the top twenty in history among position players in bWAR, batting average, hits, and doubles.
To clear things up, one of the greatest second baseman in the history of the game pronounced his name La-ja-way, though there are alternatives which put a “Z” sound on the second syllable and a “We” sound on the last. The true answer may never be put to rest. Good luck with that, Scripps!
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