Long before Jim Thorpe, an American Indian pitched in the major leagues and eventually made the Baseball Hall of Fame.

http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417880

Host to nearly 1,000 Native youth baseball and softball players and coaches, their families and friends, the Arizona Diamondbacks Inter-Tribal Youth Baseball Tournament and inaugural Native American Baseball Invitational has been deemed a success.

The event was conceived with noble beginnings 10 years ago, stemming from the Diamondbacks’ hope to create a grass-roots program benefiting Native youth in the Southwest, Diamondbacks representative Amy Buchan explained.

”It’s a way for us to promote youth baseball on the reservation,” she said.

 

http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2008-05-15-voa27.cfm

Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscott Indian from Maine, became the first American Indian to play in the major leagues, with the Cleveland Spiders in 1897. Sockalexis was a victim of alcoholism and the racist taunts of fellow players. His career lasted just three seasons.