Posted By:
davidcyclebackI've heard competing opinion as to to whether the Indians were named after Louis.
I had some 1920s-30s Drayper Maynard letters from the president on official D-M stationary. As part of the ornate design they had a list of famous old timer ball players who had used D-M products. Don't remember all the names but they were on the order of Cobb, Anson, Cochrane, King Kelly, etc. One of the names was Louis Sockalexis. So, even at that time, Louis was recognized as a significant enough player that a mainstream corporation would boast that he had used their product ... This may suggest that, when Cleveland was nicknamed the Indians in 1915, Louis was well known and recognized amongst baseball writers, and perhaps even considered something of a legend. Drayper Maynard wouldn't have put 'Louis Sockalexis' on their company stationary if it wasn't a well known name at the time.