Lajoie baseball card breaks the bank

City diamond legend’s card sells for a record $127,904 at auction

WOONSOCKET — A rare baseball card featuring city-born Hall of Famer Napoleon “Nappy” Lajoie fetched $127,904 at auction Thursday.

Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of RR Auctions of Boston, said the figure was a record for any playing card his company had ever sold, though other copies of the same card in slightly better condition had sold previously for more.

“It’s the most expensive baseball card we’ve ever sold, and we’re thrilled about that,” said Livingston.

The buyer was a New York collector who prefers to remain anonymous, he said.

The card was a 1933 issue of Lajoie distributed by the Goudey bubble gum company – in 1934. The company issued the card a year late and backdated it because it inadvertently omitted card No. 106 from its 1933, 240-card series of baseball greats. When collectors complained, they chose Lajoie for the No. 106 card and distributed it to anyone who wrote a letter to Goudey asking for it to complete their 1933 set.

Born and raised in Woonsocket, Lajoie was among the first icons of big league ball when the game was coming of age as America’s pastime. From 1896-1915, he played for several major league teams, including the Philadelphia Phillies, the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Naps. He finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .339.

Lajoie, for whom Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt named the newest little league field at World War II Park, died in Florida in 1959 at the age of 84.