- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Red Sox
- League: American League
Hubert Benjamin Leonard (1892-1952) helped pitch Boston to two world titles (1915 & ‘16) after establishing the modern record for single-season ERA in 1914 (0.96). The brilliant left-hander came out of the Western League to the Red Sox in 1913 and immediately stepped into controversy, a state that would continue throughout his ML career. He continually sparred with management over salary and famously feuded with the snarling Tiger, Ty Cobb. Enmity began over a pitch to Cobb’s ribs and overshadowed Leonard’s final years as a Detroit player. Upon forced retirement, Leonard stirred one of baseball’s biggest scandals by accusing Cobb and Tris Speaker of fixing a 1919 contest, a case thrown out of court. If the love of money drove the Dutchman during his baseball days, he finally realized his dream of wealth as a prominent California rancher and vintner, building a two million-dollar estate.
- Hall of Fame umpire Billy Evans never showed Dutch any love, berating his miserable attitude and calling him “gutless”
- Leonard hurled two no-hitters for the Sox: 1916 against the Browns and ’18 versus the Tigers
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Cleveland
- Team: Naps
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Napoleon Lajoie (1885-1959) joined the American League at its inception and became its first superstar en route to a Hall of Fame career as one of the best all time 2nd basemen. In that first year of the junior circuit, Lajoie set a record never exceeded in the AL with a .426 BA (also never exceeded in the modern era in the NL). Won the Triple Crown in 1901 and 4 more AL batting titles.
- Only Cobb, Ruth, Wagner, Mathewson and Johnson preceded him In the first HOF balloting
- Was such a hit with Cleveland fans, they voted to name the team the “Naps” in 1903
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1937
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Washington, D.C.
- Team: Senators
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Walter Perry Johnson (1887-1946) played his entire 21-yr career for the Senators then managed them for 4 more. Ty Cobb’s first impression was of a “rube out of the cornfields.” But when the rube threw “The thing just hissed with danger.” Cobb wasn’t the last player to be stunned by this man’s fastball: Most shut-outs in MLB, 2nd in wins, 4th in complete games, etc.
- Only member of 3000 SO club until Bob Gibson joined in 1974
- Still holds record 12x league-leader in strikeouts
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1936
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Byron Bancroft Johnson (1865-1931) was a big man who embodied bigger ambitions. He built the Western League into competitive shape in the 1890s and virtually forced the NL to accept his new creation as an equal. He presided over the new AL for the first two decades of the 20th century. In the aftermath of the Black Sox scandal, Judge Landis became the new czar. By 1927 Johnson was out. But what a legacy he left! His unstinting zeal for cleaning up the rowdiness of that era did not prevent him from shameless opportunism and subterfuge as he methodically put the pieces in place to rival the senior circuit. By dint of his larger-than-life persona, Johnson revolutionized the game: umpires became the true arbiters on the field, rioting players and fans no longer held ballparks hostage to violence, and the pernicious effects of gambling were largely curtailed.
- Charted the new league with his pal Comiskey but bringing on Connie Mack was a key move
- The 1903 World Series stood as the emblem of victory for the upstart AL and Ban Johnson
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1937
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Cleveland
- Team: Naps
- League: American League
Joseph Jefferson Wofford Jackson (1887-1951) had the “perfectest” swing according to Babe Ruth who copied it. After nearly a century of more contenders, many would still say Shoeless Joe was the purest hitter ever to wield a baseball bat. Expelled from baseball by Judge Landis, Jackson lives in infamy despite demonstrating prowess at the plate and grace afield. While he will ever be branded with the “Black Sox,” Jackson stirred passions that still echo in baseball today.
- Still ranks as the third-highest career batting average in history (.356)
- His .408 average in 1911, his rookie season, is sixth-highest in the modern era
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