It was on this day in 1910 that the Chalmers Auto Company announced that a new car would be awarded to the batting champions from the American and National League. This innocent promotion ended up leading to a memorable controversy, as Cleveland’s Nap Lajoie “won” the AL batting title after collecting eight hits in nine at-bats (under very dubious circumstances) during a season-ending double-header against the St. Louis Browns. Chalmers ended up awarding cars to both Lajoie and runner-up Ty Cobb in the wake of the embarrassing situation.
Here’s some news from modern-day Cleveland baseball…
- There aren’t any extension talks going on between the Indians and Francisco Lindor, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (via Twitter).