Evening star., 1959-02-07
Lojoie, Baseball Great,
Dies in Florida at 80
Continued From Page All

Continued From Fage ALA
that Bullet Joe Bush pitched
his only no-hit, no-run game
for Philadelphia against Cleve-
land. In that game Lajoie
tripled of Stan Coveleski, It
was the 3,242d hit of his
career and his last in the ma
iors. 1t was his last appearance
in a major league box score
when he was a few days shy
of his 41st birthday.
Never on Pennant Winner
In 16 Of his 81 years in the
majors the dark, New England
born h-Canadian with the
arresting eyes batted better
than 800. He never played on
a pennant winner. His closest
approach was in 1908. when
his Cleveland team finished
half a game back Of Detroit.
Years later Lajoie was in
clined to blame himself for the
loss of that flag. II fear ] was
too strict with Mig Clarke" he
said. Clarke was my catcher
when Addie joss pitched. and
joss was quite a pitcher. He
had four one-hitters in 1907
and a perfect game against the
White Sox in 1908.
Anyway, late in August, Mig
asked for permission to take a
run home to see his new bride.
I refused. Clarke sulked, then
picked up his glove when I told
him to work with Joss.
"Darned If Mig didn't de-
liberately stick his right fore
finger into one of Joss fast
ones. He came back to the
bench bleeding. He stuck his
hand out toward me-the bone
could be seen peeking through
the shattered flesh-and said,
We'll. I guess I can go home
now, can't ~
HE was out for five weeks.
But 1 guess more. damaging
was the fact that Washington
beat us IA times that year.
The Senators finished seventh,
but they murdered u.s."
Threatened CObb'S Title
Lajoie nearly nipped Ty Cobb
for the batting championship
in 1910 in a down-to-the-wire
struggle that was highlighted
by peculiar behavior on the
final day Of the season.
Winding up the season in a
double-header with the eighth
place st. Louis Browns, Lajoie
got eight hits in nine times at
bat. Six of his hits were bunts
down the third-baSe line where
the Browns had stationed a
rookie, Johnny (Red) Corriden,
who 40 years later managed
the White Sox briefly.
In the first game Lajoie un-
loaded a triple. then beat out
three bunts. He singled hard
his first time up in the second
game, was safe on an error his
second time at bat, then beat
out three more bunts. Un-
official averages showed Lajoie
ahead of Cobb.
Later, with the release OF
official averages, Cobb was dis
closed to be the winner, .3848
to .3841. President Ban john
son of the American League
wasn't satisfied with the cir
cumstances of the last day and
ordered an investigation.
Manager Lost Job
Corriden was held blameless.
He had played deep on the
orders of his manager, Jack
O'Connor. Corriden saw moth
ing unusual in the order at
the time, since it seemed dis
Greet to play deep against such
a slashing hitter!
O'Connor and Harry Howell,
st. Louis pitcher and coach
the latter wore civilian clothes
that day and made several
trips to the press box to de-
termine whether the scorer
was ruling Lajoie's bunts hits
or errors-Said they saw no
great harm in trying to help
the popular Lajoie win the title
at the expense of the unpopular
Cobb. But at Johnson's in
siStence, both men were re-
leased by st. Louis. They
didn't appear in the majors
again.
At the time the Chalmers
Co. awarded an automobile to
the batting champion. That
year they gave one to Cobb,
another to Lajoie.
Fatherless at Five
Born of Frsnch-Canadian
parents from Montreal at
Woonsocket. r. l., Lajoie was
fatherless at S. He worked as
a bobbin boy in a cotton mill
and later worked as a hack
driver to help a family which
included his mother. five
brothers and two sisters.
To pad his earnings he
played baseball on Sundays,
catching in semipro games.
That led to an offer from the
Fall River team of the old
New England League. Lajoie
hit .429 in 80 games during
AlI Moves IIn