Louis "Chief" Sockalexis (b. October 24, 1871 on a Penobscot Indian reservation outside Old Town, Maine; d. December 24, 1913, in Burlington, Maine) was an early Major League Baseball player of Native American descent, having a short three-year career with the Cleveland Spiders.
Sockalexis attended College of the Holy Cross before transferring to the University of Notre Dame, where he would eventually be expelled. A highly talented athlete, Sockalexis would develop a problem with alcoholism that would stay with him the rest of his life.
After being expelled in 1897 he signed a major league contract with the Cleveland Spiders. He posted a .338 batting average and became a fan favorite in Cleveland, although his heritage made him a target of racist derision in other cities. However, Sockalexis's alcoholism got him in trouble frequently, and he would play only sporadically over the next two seasons. After leaving baseball, what happened to Sockalexis is unclear; some think he taught baseball to boys on his old reservation, but some think he roamed New England as a transient. He died in 1913 at age 42 of heart failure.
More on [ Louis Sockalexis ]
Sports :: Native Americans
Penobscot :: P
Major League Baseball

A Season of Brilliance - Biography of Sockalexis, the first Native American baseball player.
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Baseball Library: Lou Sockalexis - Profile and stats of the Penobscot ballplayer.
The Baseball Reliquary: The Story of Louis Sockalexis - Biography of the first American Indian ballplayer and pictures of his shrine.
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