Napoleon Lajoie - his last name

[Shoeless Moe]

Interesting....well maybe, maybe not.

I've always read his name to be Lajoie, pronouncing it all these years (42 to be exact): "La-Joy", basically. Well I have a book on tape about him and it actually was pronounced:
"Loge Wah"

Sounding very French.

Please file in the useless information file of your brain.

[Ladder7]

No, It's like a french mobster, La Joey

[AndyG09]

Crazy that Napoleon would have a French sounding last name.

Best,

Andy

[T206Collector]

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...highlight=lazh

....which has another link to an earlier archived thread about it.

Also, if you listen to the 1939 Baseball Centennial CD --

http://www.amazon.com/1839-1939-Base...4346085&sr=8-1

-- Nap Lajoie himself is announced and speaks at the podium. If I remember correctly, it's Nap Lah-zha-way.

In the Baseball song on Ken Burns CD, the singer pronounces it Lay-o-way.

But it is definitely not La-Joy or La-Joey.

[ullmandds]

This topic magically seems to appear every few months it seems. Poor Nap...with the most mis-pronounced name in bb history!

Lah(like lat)-zhuh-way.

[Anthony S.]

This is why I only collect Ed Ott cards.

[Shoeless Moe]

Harry Carray would have had some fun with it forwards and backwards.

Harry would usually be bombed, via several Old Styles, with the Sox, and Cubs as well in his later years, and read the players names backwards.

He was the best!.....and the worst.

[FrankWakefield]

This is one of the many, many reasons to get The Glory of Their Times CD's. Those guys say Nap's name. And other names. And lots of great stuff. La zha way.

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by AndyG09

Crazy that Napoleon would have a French sounding last name.

Best,

Andy

[mr2686]

It's spelled Lajoie, but it’s pronounced “Throatwobbler Mangrove"