Louis Francis Sockalexis (October 24, 1871 – December 24, 1913), nicknamed the Deerfoot of the Diamond, was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player. Sockalexis played
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Mod ...
in the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
for three seasons, spending his entire career (
1897
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City.
* January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...
–
1899
Events January 1899
* January 1
** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.
** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City.
* January 2 –
**Bolivia sets up a c ...
) as an
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
for the
Cleveland Spiders
The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...
.
A
Native American from the
Penobscot
The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic pr ...
tribe, Sockalexis is often identified as the first person of Native American ancestry to play in the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
and
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
,
though many conflicting reports exist. In some cases,
Jim Toy
James Willis Toy (April 29, 1930 – January 1, 2022) was a long-time American activist and a pioneer for LGBT rights in Michigan.
Toy earned his B.A. at Denison University in 1951. He graduated with a master's degree in Clinical Social Work ...
, a
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
in the early
American Association American Association may refer to:
Baseball
* American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891
* American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997
* American Association of Profe ...
, is identified as the first person with Native American ancestry to play major league baseball.
Author Ed Rice has disputed this, having found a death certificate for Toy stating his race as Caucasian, although birth records of the time are notoriously inaccurate. Also,
Moses J. Yellow Horse
Moses J. "Chief" Yellow Horse (January 28, 1898 – April 10, 1964) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1921 and 1922. An Oklahoma native, Yellow Horse, a Nati ...
, who played in the early 1920s, is noted as the first full-blooded American Indian to have played in the major leagues.
Early life
Louis Sockalexis was born on the
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation
Penobscot Indian Island Reservation (Abenaki: ''Álənαpe Mə́nəhan'') is an Indian reservation for the Penobscot Tribe of Maine, a federally recognized tribe of the Penobscot near
Old Town, Maine
Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, though its boundaries extend beyond that. The island i ...
, in 1871. His grandfather was Chief of the Bear Clan.
In his youth, Sockalexis' athletic talents were very noticeable. It was reported that Sockalexis could throw a baseball across the
Penobscot River
The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's We ...
from Indian Island to the shore of Old Town.
[ Additionally, it is said that Sockalexis and his father entertained crowds at the ]Bangor Race Track
Bangor or City of Bangor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Bangor, New South Wales
* Bangor, Tasmania
Canada
* Bangor, Nova Scotia
* Bangor, Saskatchewan
* Bangor, Prince Edward Island
United Kingdom Northern Ireland
* Bangor, County Down
** ...
by playing catch across the entire track.[ He attended High School in Van Buren's St. Mary's.
In the summer of 1893, members of the Holy Cross baseball team played in an amateur "county league" in Maine. Sockalexis played for one of the teams in the league. His hitting, base running, and fielding all stood out to the Holy Cross players. Future Major League Baseball catcher Doc Powers was one of the Holy Cross players, and encouraged Sockalexis to return with them to Worcester, Massachusetts and enroll at Holy Cross.
After completing his ]secondary education
Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...
, Sockalexis began his college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
career in 1894
Events January–March
* January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire.
* January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...
at the College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...
.[ While there, he participated on the school's ]baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
, football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, and track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
teams. Sockalexis spent those summers playing baseball in the Trolley League along the coast of Maine. After the end of the 1895-96 baseball season, the Holy Cross baseball coach accepted a position at the University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
in February 1897
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City.
* January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...
. When that happened, Sockalexis decided to transfer to Notre Dame. In his two seasons at Holy Cross, Sockalexis compiled a .444 batting average.[
Sockalexis biographer Ed Rice challenges this entire Notre Dame-Giants account, since there is (1) no known newspaper account of it and (2) it sounds too remarkably like the account that actually occurred when the Cleveland team played the Giants for the first time in the Polo Grounds. In 1897, the Notre Dame baseball team played an exhibition game against the ]New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
at the Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...
.[ In a sign of things to come, Sockalexis had to deal with taunts, ]racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
, and insulting chants during the game.[ At the same time, sports writers in attendance insulted a delegation of Penobscots who had come from Old Town to watch the game.][
]Amos Rusie
Amos Wilson Rusie (May 30, 1871 – December 6, 1942), nicknamed "The Hoosier Thunderbolt", was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the late 19th century. He had a 10-season career in the National League (NL), w ...
, a future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
, pitched that day for the Giants; and, before the game, Rusie had promised to strike out Sockalexis.[ Things did not go well for Rusie as Sockalexis hit a ]home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
following Rusie's first pitch.[ Here, Rice completely challenges the Notre Dame account: Why would Rusie promise to strike out the "damned Indian" as he characterized Sockalexis before he and the Cleveland team arrived in New York? When this incident occurred in the professional game, Rice and Society for American Baseball Research member Richard "Dixie" Tourangeau discovered Rusie had a reason to be upset with Sockalexis. It seems earlier in the 1897 season, New York had played a series in Cleveland; in the game Rusie pitched there, the game went into extra innings and Sockalexis got the game-winning hit off Rusie. This Notre Dame account hasn't been proven.
However, Sockalexis' career at Notre Dame was short. In an event that foreshadowed future problems, the University expelled Sockalexis not long after he arrived for his problems with alcohol.] Although he played exclusively as an outfielder in the majors, Sockalexis played outfield and pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
while at Notre Dame and Holy Cross.[
]
Professional career
On March 9, 1897, Sockalexis signed a major league contract with the Cleveland Spiders
The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...
. Just a month later, on April 22, Sockalexis made his major league debut. Just a few months after he was expelled from school, his drinking problems resurfaced. On July 4, 1897, Sockalexis, in an inebriated condition, jumped from the second-story window of a brothel
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
. He severely injured his ankle in the fall.[ Evidently, the injury affected his play. In the five games after the injury, he had nine ]hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
in 18 at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s.[ However, his fielding was poor. From July 25 until September 12, Sockalexis played in just one game. In that game, he committed two errors.][ In his first season with the Spiders, Sockalexis hit for a .338 batting average with three home runs and 42 RBIs. In 66 games that season, Sockalexis also had 16 ]stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...
s.
Burdened by his alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
,[ Sockalexis played just two more seasons of major league baseball. After a mediocre 1898 campaign, in 1899, a combined ownership cartel that controlled both the Cleveland Spiders and the St. Louis Perfectos engineered a 'trade' in which all of Cleveland's best players were assigned to St. Louis—in this way, the St. Louis team would have a shot at the pennant, while the Cleveland team would be allowed to languish. Sockalexis, no longer considered a star, was kept in Cleveland.
After playing just seven games for what is often considered the worst team in major league baseball history, the Spiders released Sockalexis, and his major league career was over. Sockalexis finished his career in the minor leagues and returned to Indian Island to coach juvenile teams in .][ Five players whom he coached went on to play in the New England League. After playing in the minor leagues in 1902 (Lowell Tigers) and again in 1907 ( Bangor White Sox), Sockalexis retired.
]
Later life and legacy
Sockalexis suffered from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
and heart trouble in his later years.[ On ]Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...
, , Sockalexis died in Burlington, Maine
Burlington is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Bangor Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 373 at the 2020 census.
History
The area was originally known as "Hurd's Ridge," named after the first ...
.
Although Sockalexis had a brief career, he faced many obstacles during his time in professional baseball. It was reported that fans of the opposing teams often shouted racial slurs toward him due to his Penobscot heritage. Additionally, fans imitated war whoops and war dances in his presence.[ Later, when sports journalists attributed his rapid decline to alcoholism, they identified the disease as the inherent "Indian weakness".][
The name change of the Cleveland Naps to the Indians in is attributed to a desire to honor Sockalexis. The new name was chosen by sportswriters in honor of the nickname given while Sockalexis played for the Cleveland Spiders.
In recognition of his accomplishments, the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame has elected Sockalexis. He was joined by his second cousin, marathon runner ]Andrew Sockalexis
Andrew Sockalexis (January 11, 1892 – August 26, 1919) was an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Early life
Andrew Sockalexis was born on January 11, 1892, in Old Town, Maine, a member of the Penobscot ...
, who finished second in the 1912 and 1913 Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...
s and in fourth place at the 1912 Olympic Games
Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condit ...
in Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
.
A plaque honoring Sockalexis stands in Cleveland's Heritage Park, beyond center field of Progressive Field.
Sockalexis is interred in the Old Town Cemetery in Old Town, Maine.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Sockalexis Socked Like Ruth, Was Faster Than Cobb, Threw a la Meusel
by Harry Grayson
Harry Markey Grayson (May 10, 1894 – September 30, 1968) was an American sportswriter. He was the sports editor of the Newspaper Enterprise Association from 1934 to 1963.
Selected works by Grayson BaseballWagner and Mathewson Top National Loop ...
, August 5, 1943
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sockalexis, Louis
Native American sportspeople
Major League Baseball outfielders
Cleveland Spiders players
Holy Cross Crusaders baseball players
Baseball players from Maine
People from Penobscot Indian Island Reservation
Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players
College of the Holy Cross alumni
Penobscot people
1871 births
1913 deaths
19th-century baseball players
Lewiston (minor league baseball) players
Mansfield Haymakers players
Hartford Indians players
Bristol Bell Makers players
Waterbury Rough Riders players
Lowell Tigers players
Native American people from Maine
20th-century Native Americans
19th-century Native Americans