Deerfoot of the Diamond

[davidb]

Bob C , thanks for your response and accept your "informed people" assessment. Stories like Louis Sockalexis from late 20th century baseball continue to fascinate and I appreciate historians like you that provide insight otherwise unknown to us mediocre baseball historians.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by davidb

Bob C , thanks for your response and accept your "informed people" assessment. Stories like Louis Sockalexis from late 20th century baseball continue to fascinate and I appreciate historians like you that provide insight otherwise unknown to us mediocre baseball historians.

I'm no historian, just been a Clevelander all my life, so kind of understand the people, culture, and thinking. And by "informed people" I'm referring to those that haven't just heard the common, mainstream stories, and then simply assumed they're true and that the Indians were named for Sockalexis. I'm referring to those who dig a little deeper to read and learn more about the times and history, and Sockalexis' career and life in general. When you read and discover more about the issues and things plaguing him, and different things that he supposedly did or that occurred, it helps to better adjust and understand the context around him and his place in Cleveland history.

Now Sockalexis did figure into the naming of the Indians back in 1915, but probably more because the team was at one time referred to by some as the Indians when he was playing for the Spiders. Oddly, the stories are that the Indians name was ultimately picked by the team's ownership, along with input and help from four major newspapers Cleveland had back then. Speculation in some areas was that using Sockalexis made for better print than just saying we're copying off the Boston Braves.

Plus, the fact some people had referred to a Cleveland team as the Indians in the past likely stuck in some peoples minds as well. Oftentimes when looking to rename and change things, people will often look to the past. No surprise that before settling on the Guardians, some of the more popular names bandied about locally included the Spiders, the Blues, and the Buckeyes. All three are the names of former ML baseball teams playing in Cleveland.

There is no definitive proof of the specific, primary reason they named the team the Indians, but in looking at it strictly from a Cleveland team and fan standpoint, it makes absolutely no sense to think they did so primarily to honor Sockalexis. Now if you're up around Maine or in an area the Penobscot tribe is prominent in, that is an entirely different story. Otherwise, Sockalexis' only connection to the Cleveland city and team was his very short, and very forgettable, playing career with the Spiders. And based on how it turned out, from a strictly Cleveland perspective, what exactly would they be honoring him for?

[rhettyeakley]

I am not going to get into a debate about whether or not the team name is what it is for Sockalexis or not, that will not come to a settled conclusion in this thread.

That being said, sometimes there are players that just resonate with a city or a fanbase unlike other players and it may or may not make sense based only upon statistics or retroactively looking back at boxscores. Regardless of whether it seems logical for Sockalexis to be as big of a deal today or not the fact is that in 1897/1898 there was massive interest in Sockalexis and his rise to fame in the city of Cleveland. The fact that he was Native American likely played a huge role in his “novelty” especially in 19th Century America with its massive racial issues.

A somewhat more recent example of a player that captured a city and their fanbase that may make it a little easier to understand how Sockalexis was able to do the same with Cleveland in 1897/1898 is Mark Fidrych in Detroit. Fidrych’s career in Detroit was short…his career was essentially over after 41 games (31 as a dominant starter in 1976 and a few games in 1977 before an injury derailed his career.) looking back at his career retroactively one might never understand how this player could have been as captivating as he was in 1976/1977… but he was. People loved him and the thought of “what could have been” with Fidrych still resonates with people 45 years later. Sockalexis was “that” type of player to those that saw him play in Cleveland. It wouldn’t be crazy to imagine 2 decades later the new Cleveland team waxing nostalgic to their (I hate to say it but) novelty of 1897/98 and deciding they wanted to remember those exciting days

It would be like a new Detroit team in the 1980-90’s deciding to call themselves the Detroit Birds! (After Fidrych) which now that I think about it after having driven in Detroit a few times I am pretty sure I have been given a few “Detroit Birds” in my time!