Baseball

Author says Sockalexis first Indian in MLB

'It’s time for a sorrowful 43-year-old hoax to come to an end,' Rice says

updated 4:51 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2006

ORONO, Maine - Louis Sockalexis, the Penobscot Indian who played for the Cleveland Indians, should have his title restored as first American Indian to play in the major leagues, according to the author of a book about Sockalexis.

Sockalexis was stripped of the title in 1963 when a National Baseball Hall of Fame historian pronounced a Sioux Indian named James Madison Toy to be the first.

But author Ed Rice said Thursday that he obtained Toy’s death certificate in Pennsylvania, and it lists his race as “white.”

“It’s time for a sorrowful 43-year-old hoax to come to an end. Locally, regionally and nationally, it is time to restore the title ‘First American Indian’ to the man who earned it — Louis Sockalexis,” Rice said.

Rice is the author of the book, “Baseball’s First Indian: Louis Sockalexis: Penobscot Legend, Cleveland Indian,” and has long claimed that Sockalexis was the first Indian to play in the major leagues.

Sockalexis, who grew up on Maine’s Indian Island, was a gifted athlete whose exploits at Holy Cross and Notre Dame propelled him to the majors in 1897.

He ended up playing 94 major league games, batting .313 for the Cleveland Spiders before his career was cut short from alcoholism. Still, it’s believed he was the inspiration for the Spiders to change their name to the Indians.

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Toy played two seasons between 1887-90.

Brad Horn, spokesman for the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., said the Hall would look at the death certificate once Rice sends it. It’s unlikely the Hall of Fame would make any proclamation about Sockalexis, he said, but his picture and information might be displayed if warranted.