Lafayette Napoleon Cross (born Vratislav Kriz, May 12, 1866 – September 6, 1927) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from to . Cross played most of his 21-year career with Philadelphia-based teams in four different leagues. One of the sport's top all-around players in the years surrounding the turn of the 20th century, when he retired he ranked fifth in major league history in hits (2,644) and runs batted in (1,371), ninth in doubles (411) and total bases (3,466), and third in games played (2,275) and at bats (9,064).
Cross also excelled as a defensive player. After beginning his major league career as a catcher, he led third basemen in fielding percentage five times, and ended his career with nearly every fielding record at that position: games (1,721), putouts (2,306), assists (3,706), total chances (6,406), and fielding average (.938); his 212 double plays ranked third behind Billy Nash and Arlie Latham. He captained the Philadelphia Athletics teams which captured two of the first five American League pennants.
Early life
Born as Vratislav Kriz, he was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to immigrants from Bohemia; the Kriz family moved to Cleveland during his childhood. By the end of the 1880s, Kriz changed his name to Lafayette Cross, although he was generally referred to as "Lave." A total of four sons of the Kriz (later Cross) family would play major league baseball; older sons Joe and Amos, third son Lave, and youngest son Frank.
Career
Cross began his career as a secondary catcher and occasional outfielder with the - Louisville Colonels. His brother Amos was the regular catcher for Louisville in 1885 and 1886, but only played 8 games in 1887, the year Lave made his major league debut; Lave played in 51 games that year. Amos died in 1888, reportedly of "consumption of the lungs", without playing baseball that year. Oldest brother Joe Cross played a portion of one game in 1888 as a right fielder and Louisville teammate of Lave's, though Lave himself did not play in that particular game due to injury.
Lave Cross's contract was sold to the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association for the 1889 season, and he jumped to the Philadelphia Quakers of the Players' League in before returning to the AA team in . That season he saw his first regular play, splitting time in the outfield and behind the plate, and also playing at third base for the first time; in addition, he batted .301 and finished fifth in the league in slugging average.
After the American Association's merger with the National League in 1892, he joined the Philadelphia Phillies from 1892 through 1897. In his first two years he played as a catcher and third baseman, while in the last two years he played primarily at third with substantial play as a second baseman and shortstop. Playing exclusively at third in 1895, he led the National League in assists and fielding average for the first time. He also became a solid hitter, batting a career-high .386 with 125 runs batted in (RBI) and 123 runs in . Cross has the distinction of being the first player of the Philadelphia Phillies to hit for the cycle, doing so on April 24, 1894, against the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. Cross drove in four runs, starting with a double in the first inning, a single in the second inning, a triple in the sixth inning, and a home run in the seventh inning, which was the final one he played, as he was taken out as catcher (having moved there from third base in the first inning due to injury) by his manager in a game that Philadelphia won 22–5. During this period, major league rules did not restrict the size of infielders' gloves, and he continued to use his catcher's mitt in the field; on August 5, he set a still-standing record at second base with 15 assists in a 12-inning game.