About the name:
Hall of Famer Napoleon “Nap” Lajoie (pronounced “Lajaway”) played second base for the Indians from 1902-1914. He’s best known for batting .422 in 1901 (it’s still the highest average in American League history. The same year, he also became the first person intentionally walked with the bases loaded. From 1903-1914, the team was called the “Naps” in honor of Lajoie. The name was officially changed to the present-day “Indians” in 1915.
Nice site!
Actually, it’s pronounced La-jway. It’s a 2 syllable name.
Mike, you’re right that it’s two syllables, but it’s la-JWAH. It’s a French name and the “oi” spelling combination is always pronounced “wah,” and the final “e” is not pronounced.
Morgan is absolutely right, “Lajoie” is NOT pronounced “lajaway”!!!! How ironic is that, since the website is named after this player but mispronounces the last name (Morgan pronounces it correctly). I should know since I am from Belgium (originally) and it’s a fairly common last name there.
Paul –
Americans have a habit of changing the pronunciation of names over time. If Lajoie pronounced it la-ja-way, who are you to tell him what his name is? Don’t think of it as a mispronunciation, think of it as a different name spelled the same way, or as the American version of the name.
Regardless of how it’s pronounced, it’s a cool name for a blog.
Years from now we can correct the pronunciation of Brett Favre’s name.
I have a photo of Mr. Lajoie in my office. He was born in my mother’s home town of Woonsocket, RI, which was overwhelmingly French-Canadien back in the day. She even knew one of his sisters. According to her and my father, who was also Quebecois, it’s “lajh-wah.” I’m with you, Morgan.
Actually it is pronounced the exact way the authors of this site claim it is pronounced. Knowledgeable baseball historians will confirm this. Just because the French pronounce it differently does not mean that the great second baseman did not pronounce it as it has been reported.
Case in point: Two personal friends who are related to one another have the last name “Koch”. One pronounces it “cotch” while the other pronounces it “coke”. Sam Koch, the punter for the Baltimore Ravens pronounces it “cook”, so before you go throwing stones and criticizing, maybe you should do some research.
Just a suggestion.
I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Guy’s name was “Nap.”