Sockalexis, a Penobscot Indian from Maine, was educated and played baseball at Holy
Cross and Notre Dame, from which he was expelled for creating a drunken disturbance.
He was quickly signed by the Cleveland National League club in 1897, and was an instant
success, having no trouble with major league pitching, playing sensationally in right
field, and displaying a powerful throwing arm. He is credited as being the first
American Indian to play in the major leagues. At first fans would often let out derisive
war whoops when he came to bat, but they quickly took to him because of his skill
and proud demeanor.
In July Sockalexis sustained a leg injury, which contemporary
accounts reported followed a "tryst with a pale-faced maiden" as well as "dalliance
with grape." He began stumbling around and making bad plays in right, but continued
to hit, going 9-for-18 in his next five games. From July 25 until September 12, he
played only once. In his last game he committed two errors. He finished the season
batting .338, but made only brief appearances in 1898-99, and left the game in 1903.
He drifted throughout New England, a laborer and a transient, and died of alcoholism
in 1913. So strong had been his influence that when a Cleveland newspaper ran a contest
to rename the AL Naps, Indians was the winner.
(CG)
FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»March 9, 1897: Cleveland signs Holy Cross star Louis Sockalexis to a contract. Sockalexis, a full-blooded Penobscot Indian, soon earns the admiration of Spiders fans with his phenomenal all-around skills. Before long, baseball fans start referring to the Cleveland team as the "Indians." Although Sockalexis will only play parts of three seasons due to acute alcoholism, the nickname will be revived in 1915 and become the club's official name.
»May 17, 1899: Honus Wagner is 3-for-5 against the Cleveland Spiders, but Louisville loses when Wagner is doubled off 2nd base to end the game. Honus forgot how many outs there and did not get back to the base in time. Cleveland OF Louis Sockalexis is fined in police court for public intoxication. The club releases him, and he signs with Hartford of the Eastern League.
»January 5, 1915:
Thirteen years after a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision effectively banned him from playing for the Athletics, Nap Lajoie (.258 last year) rejoins them. With Lajoie leaving Cleveland, the owner will ask several newspapermen for nickname suggestions to replace the Naps. He'll pick the name "Indians". A popular myth will be that a newspaper contest resulted in the winning nickname, after the late Lou Sockalexis, a Penobscot Indian who was a popular Cleveland player in the late 1890s. The team doesn't correct the myth until 2000.
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