Post by Okwes on Nov 27, 2006 11:26:00 GMT -5
Louis Sockalexis: The First Cleveland Indian is the full-length
biography of the man who became the first Native American to play major
league baseball, as well as the first minority player in the National
League. A member of the Penobscot tribe of Maine, Sockalexis was a
multitalented athlete who starred in baseball, football, and track at
the College of the Holy Cross before he signed with the National
League's Cleveland Spiders in early 1897. He made such an impression on
all who saw him that the local writers began calling the team the
"Indians" that spring. Unfortunately, his stardom did not last. He
batted .338 in his rookie season, but alcoholism derailed the career of
this amazing athlete. The difficulties encountered by baseball's first
minority player making his way in the white world also contributed to
Sockalexis' downfall. By 1899 he was out of the major leagues, and he
died in Maine in 1913 at the age of 42. Two years later, the Cleveland
American League team officially adopted the name "Indians," by which it
is known to this day.
biography of the man who became the first Native American to play major
league baseball, as well as the first minority player in the National
League. A member of the Penobscot tribe of Maine, Sockalexis was a
multitalented athlete who starred in baseball, football, and track at
the College of the Holy Cross before he signed with the National
League's Cleveland Spiders in early 1897. He made such an impression on
all who saw him that the local writers began calling the team the
"Indians" that spring. Unfortunately, his stardom did not last. He
batted .338 in his rookie season, but alcoholism derailed the career of
this amazing athlete. The difficulties encountered by baseball's first
minority player making his way in the white world also contributed to
Sockalexis' downfall. By 1899 he was out of the major leagues, and he
died in Maine in 1913 at the age of 42. Two years later, the Cleveland
American League team officially adopted the name "Indians," by which it
is known to this day.