Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer

This is the story of Louis Sockalexis was a true native american baseball pioneer. It tells of his struggle as a minority to make it in the big leagues. Louis was the complete package. He could hit, field, and run. He was put down by his teammates and fans as well just because of the color of his skin. Kids can learn many lessons from this book. Not only about the history of minority baseball players but also life lessons such as tolerance and will power.

While growing up in the Penobscot Indian reservation in the late 1800s, Louis Sockalexis fell in love with baseball and did all he could to develop his unusual talent. Undaunted by the poverty and inequality in legal rights experienced by Native Americans at the time, he went on to Holy Cross College on an athletic scholarship. His accomplishments on the field gained the notice of the manager of a Major League Baseball team, but his Native American heritage gained even more negative attention from the fans and the media. Although Sockalexis was probably the first Native American to play in the major leagues, the intense hostility, racial slurs, and discrimination that he faced stymied this honor and made his life much more difficult. This exciting and informative book is sure to be a hit with young readers who appreciate sports biographies that focus on obstacles and opportunities.

The ballpark was packed with fans, not so much waiting for their favorite team to play, but to watch history being made. It was June 16, 1897 and Louis Sockalexis was going to play major league ball for the Cleveland Spiders. The New York Giants fans were unusually rowdy as the "air filled with taunting Indian war cries." Louis was a Penobscot Indian from Maine. In those days if you were an Indian, you were a pariah. When Louis was a boy, it didn't matter that he was an Indian when he swung that bat or fielded that ball. It was a "magical" time that took him away from the problem of being a social outcast living on a reservation in little more than a dump. When he wasn't helping his father with logging, he practiced every opportunity he could and excelled at baseball in school and ultimately won a scholarship to Holy Cross. Louis Sockalexis, "The Savage," made it to the majors, but would he have the heart and the guts to overcome the prejudice he would encounter? "Get a tomahawk, not a bat!" Could words defeat his spirit and ruin his game? This story of Louis was heartwarming, exciting and swept me back through history to experience the excitement of a single game in baseball history. Bill Farnsworth's art work has a subtle nostalgic look to it and adds a lot to the tale. In the afterword, Bill Wise has penned an informative two page biography of this historical Penobscot Indian. This is a wonderful book!