Category: Penobscot

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Baseball NDN All-Star Info NDN All-Star Profile NDN All-Stars Firsts Penobscot

NDN All-Stars “FIRSTS” – Baseball’s First Indian

NDN All-Stars "FIRSTS"

Leading off our NDN All-Stars “FIRSTS” mini-series, I want to talk a little about NDN All-Star #4 Louis Sockalexis (Penobscot).  “Sock” broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball a full 50 years before the more celebrated Jackie Robinson, when he played his first Major League game on April 22, 1897.

Sockalexis was a true baseball phenom – hitting, running, fielding – he could do it all better than anyone at that time! After a stellar career in college at Holy Cross and Notre Dame, Sockalexis signed with the Cleveland Spiders.

Sockalexis played brilliantly during his first season and was quickly became a media darling as he traveled around the country, attracting sportswriters and fans wherever he went. However, he also had to endure racist barbs from the opposing teams and the fans in the stands. Despite non-stop heckling and taunts and harassment, “Sock” seemed to take it all with grace and good humor; so much so that after a while, even many of the opposing team’s fans were won over. Through it all, Sockalexis continued to astound baseball fans with his on field accomplishments.

The story of Louis Sockalexis’ baseball career doesn’t end in glory, however. Unfortunately, Sockalexis fell prey to alcoholism, and ended up only playing parts of three major league seasons.  After he was released from his major league contract, he played a few more seasons in minor and independent leagues. His last game in organized baseball was for the Lowell Tigers in 1907.

Our first “FIRST” – NDN All-Star #4 Louis Sockalexis was a baseball player like no other, and a true baseball pioneer!

Thanks, “Sock” for making it possible for the rest of the Native Baseball Players to play the game they love at the highest level! Here are some of the NDN All-Stars who have followed NDN All-Star #4 Louis Sockalexis and played baseball in the Majors:

Charles Bender, Ojjibwe

Johnny Bench, Choctaw

Jim Thorpe, Sac & Fox

John Tortes Meyers, Cahuilla

Early Wynn, Cherokee

Zach Wheat, Cherokee

Pepper Martin, Osage

Allie Reynolds, Creek

Jacoby Ellsbury, Navajo

Joba Chamberlin, Winnebago

Kyle Lohse, Nomlaki

“””Indian”” Bob Johnson”, Cherokee

Bobby Madritsch, Lakota

Roy Johnson, Cherokee

Lane Adams, Choctaw

Koda Glover, Cherokee

Moses Yellow Horse, Pawnee

Rudy York, Cherokee

Ed Summers, Kickapoo

“Elon “”Chief”” Hogsett”, Cherokee

Dwight Lowry, Lumbee

Adrian Houser, Cherokee

Ryan Helsley, Cherokee

Dylan Bundy, Cherokee

Jon Gray, Cherokee

Vallie Eaves, Cherokee

Brandon Bailey, Chickasaw

Robbie Ray, Cherokee

Bucky Dent, Cherokee

Gene Locklear, Lumbee

Jayhawk Owens, Cherokee

Euel Moore, Chickasaw

Louis Bruce, Mohawk

Louis Leroy, Mohican

Anthony Seigler, Navajo

Darrell Evans, Yavapai

Jim Bluejacket, Cherokee

 

#ndnallstars #louissockalexis #baseball #MLB #cleveland #Penobscot #FIRSTS

If you enjoy the content here and would like to help support our mission of celebrating great Native athletes of the past and present, please take a look at our NDN All-Stars Shop. Proceeds from every purchase help us continue to retell these stories. Also, if you would like to donate to this effort, please visit our Patreon page.
Thank you for your support!

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Baseball NDN All-Star Profile Penobscot

NDN All-Star #4 – Louis Sockalexis (Penobscot)

 

There is a lot to be said about being FIRST.

Louis Sockalexis – he should have been as big of a deal as Jackie Robinson.  “Sock” as he was called, broke the major league baseball color barrier in the 1890s, becoming the first Native American to play major league baseball.  Yet – not many people have ever even heard of him!

Sockalexis took the baseball world by storm when he began playing for the then Cleveland Spiders in 1897.  He was a media darling when he began his career and played stellar baseball on the field.  He hit .338 and stole 16 bases in just 66 games his first season.

Sockalexis had to endure endless racial taunts and war whoops from heckling baseball fans.  But he handled them well.

People who saw him play in person said he could hit like Babe Ruth, run like Ty Cobb and throw like Tris Speaker.  Actually, they said “better than” – but I didn’t want to lay it on too thick…

Sadly, Sockalexis’ career was cut short by alcoholism.  While it was said that he could do all of those baseball things better than anyone else, Hall of Fame baseball general manager Ed Barrow also said that he was “also the best drinker.”  His play suffered greatly and after parts of just three major league seasons, his promising career ended.

Oh, what might have been…

He went home to the Penobscot reservation and became a minor league player until 1907, when he played his last game in organized baseball.  After his playing days ended, he coached baseball for the youth on the reservation for a time and worked doing manual labor.  He died in 1913 at the age of 42.

One of the many stories attached to Louis Sockalexis is that the Cleveland Spiders, the team that Sock played for, changed their name to the “Indians” in 1915.  Legend has it that the name was an honor to the bright – although brief – stellar career of Louis Sockalexis.  There are many people who debunk this story – but I have decided to believe it.  ‘Nuff said.

#ndnallstars #louissockalexis #baseball #MLB #cleveland #Penobscot

If you enjoy the content here and would like to help support our mission of celebrating great Native athletes of the past and present, please take a look at our NDN All-Stars Shop. Proceeds from every purchase help us continue to retell these stories. Also, if you would like to donate to this effort, please visit our Patreon page.
Thank you for your support!