Nap Lajoie joins the 3,000 hit club, becoming just the second Major League ball player* to do so. Honus Wagner previously beat him to the plateau earlier in the season on June 9th.
Lajoie claimed his stake of baseball immortality with a double off of New York’s Marty McHale in game one of a doubleheader won by his namesake, 5-3. The actual date that Lajoie reached the 3,000 mark has been contested, however, as there is speculation that the fan favorite was not credited with as many as nine hits in his first season in the American League with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1901, which would push the date of his entrance into the 3,000 hit club back to September 17 of that season against the Boston Red Sox and pitcher Rube Foster.
Lajoie’s feat was one of the few highlights in a bad 1914 campaign for the Indians, most notably the team’s first 100-loss season. The team spent all but two days, June 30 and July 1, in last place.
*As a footnote, Cap Anson reached the mark first with the Chicago Colts in 1894 with his 3,000th hit, if counting his time with the National Association, something that Major League Baseball does not officially recognize among its statistics. If ignoring those numbers, he may have reached the mark on July 18, 1897. But, drawing further controversy into the question, additional research into his situation showed that he was incorrectly credited with several additional hits (instead of walks) during the 1887 season, which would have dropped his career total in the National League to 2,995.
Also on this date in Tribe history:
1984 – Jamie Quirk delivers a two-out walk-off home run in the ninth inning as the Indians defeat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3. The solo shot for Quirk comes in his first, and only, at bat with Cleveland. He entered the game in the top of the ninth as a defensive replacement for Tony Bernazard, who had replaced catcher Jerry Willard on the base paths the previous inning when the Indians scored three to tie the game.
Quirk will be released after the season and will sign with the Royals more than four months later for his third stint in Kansas City.
