Bill Lajoie, Western Michigan (Baseball)
Bill Lajoie was an All-American outfielder for Western Michigan in 1955 and was twice named All-Mid-American Conference honoree. Lajoie played baseball from 1953-55 and batted .400 in 1955 and led Western Michigan to the finals of the College World Series.
Lajoie set season records for hits (54), runs (47) and RBIs (39) that stood for 20 years. He played 10 years of minor league baseball and joined the Cincinnati organization as a scout in 1965. He later returned to scouting in a special assignment capacity with Atlanta in 1990.
As a member of the Detroit Tigers organization from 1969-90, this including a 12-year stint as vice president of baseball operations and was the architect behind the Tigers 1984 World Series championship team. He was inducted into the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame in 1991.
