Nap Lajoie Throw

This card files under the variation tag "Nap Lajoie Throw," the T206 White Border pose of the Cleveland Naps' player-manager second baseman caught in throwing motion, distinguished from the alternate "portrait" and "with bat" Lajoie cards in the same set. The player is Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie (1874–1959), the French-Canadian-born infielder from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, who had jumped from the Phillies to the new American League's Athletics in 1901 and won the AL's first batting title with a .426 average that remains the highest single-season mark in modern major-league history. By the time this card was issued he was the player-manager of the Cleveland club that bore his name — "Naps," for Napoleon — having taken over in 1905. He batted and threw right-handed, stood 6'1", and was admired for fielding his position with an effortless grace unusual for the era. Lajoie died February 7, 1959 in Daytona Beach, Florida, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1937 in the second class, one year after the charter five.