Other books by David L. Fleitz:

More Ghosts in the Gallery (McFarland, 2007) contains 16 more fascinating biographies of little-known Hall of Famers. It will be released this summer.

Shoeless: The Life and Times of Joe Jackson (McFarland, 2001) tells the true story of the legendary character from Eight Men Out and Field of Dreams.  Shoeless was selected as the first winner of the OSBY (Outstanding Sports Book of the Year) Award by the Hickory (NC) Sports Commission and the Hickory Public Library.

Ghosts in the Gallery at Cooperstown (McFarland, 2004) contains 16 biographies of little-known, but highly fascinating, members of the Hall of Fame.

Cap Anson: The Grand Old Man of Baseball (McFarland, 2005) is the first full-length biography of 19th century baseball's greatest player and manager in more than 100 years.

Comments? Send e-mail to dfleitz99@wowway.com, but take the 99 out of the address before sending.  Spam artists scour web pages like this one for e-mail addresses, and the 99 in the address makes it unusable for them.

Louis Sockalexis:  The First Cleveland Indian 

by David L. Fleitz

Louis Sockalexis: The First Cleveland Indian is the full-length biography of the man who became the first Native American to play major league baseball, as well as the first minority player in the National League.  A member of the Penobscot tribe of Maine, Sockalexis was a multitalented athlete who starred in baseball, football, and track at the College of the Holy Cross before he signed with the National League's Cleveland Spiders in early 1897.  He made such an impression on all who saw him that the local writers began calling the team the "Indians" that spring. 

Unfortunately, his stardom did not last.  He batted .338 in his rookie season, but alcoholism derailed the career of this amazing athlete.  The difficulties encountered by baseball's first minority player making his way in the white world also contributed to Sockalexis' downfall.  By 1899 he was out of the major leagues, and he died in Maine in 1913 at the age of 42. Two years later, the Cleveland American League team officially adopted the name "Indians," by which it is known to this day.

About the Book:

David Fleitz, a SABR member and author of several books and numerous articles, was the first to tell the story of Louis Sockalexis in book form.  McFarland and Company published Louis Sockalexis: The First Cleveland Indian in October of 2002.  Though at least two other biographies of this Penobscot athlete have reached the market since then, Fleitz's book remains the standard against which all similar works are measured. 

The book is published by McFarland and Company of Jefferson, North Carolina, a recognized industry leader in works on baseball history.

 
The reviewers speak:

"Well-written and carefully documented  ... for the next scholar to assume the task [of telling his story] it is Fleitz who best lays out the evidence." - SABR 19th Century Committee newsletter

“Well-researched, highly readable study ... an interesting and detailed account ... in creating this concise and accurate account of the career of Louis Sockalexis, Fleitz displays an inquisitive scholar’s refusal to accept old tales at face value, a diligent researcher’s willingness to seek out the facts in primary sources, and a skillful writer’s ability to clearly describe what actually happened ... valuable work” —Nine

“More scholarly and complete [than the competition] ... excellent illustrations ... detailed endnotes”—Bowling Green (Kentucky) Daily News

“Fleitz has researched and told the story of Sockalexis very well”—Harold Seymour.com.

"This book, like Fleitz's first on Shoeless Joe Jackson, is thoroughly researched, well-written, and completely presented." - Toledo Blade

About the Author:

David Fleitz is a resident of Bowling Green, Ohio and is employed as a software developer and systems designer.  David, a member of SABR (Society of American Baseball Research) since 2000,  is the award-winning author of Shoeless: The Life and Times of Joe Jackson (McFarland, 2001), which was named as the best baseball biography of the year by Rob Neyer of ESPN.com.  His next book was Louis Sockalexis: The First Cleveland Indian (McFarland, 2002), which was a finalist for the Seymour Medal, an annual award for the best baseball book published that year.  His third book, Ghosts in the Gallery at Cooperstown, was published by McFarland in early 2004, and his fourth, Cap Anson: The Grand Old Man of Baseball, appeared in 2005.  His latest, published in 2007, is More Ghosts in the Gallery, a much-requested sequel to Ghosts in the Gallery at Cooperstown.

David is also a baseball trivia expert, winning the annual competition at the national SABR convention in Seattle in 2006 and in St. Louis in 2007 after taking second place in Toronto in 2005.  He has authored articles for SABR's Baseball Research Journal and The National Pastime, and his work appears in two recent compilations, Deadball Stars of the National League (Brassey's, 2005) and Deadball Stars of the American League (Potomac Books, 2007).

Awards and Honors:

• Louis Sockalexis: The First Cleveland Indian was one of six finalists for the 2002 Dave Moore Award, presented annually by Elysian Fields Quarterly.  

• It was one of ten nominees for the 2002 Casey Award, given annually to the baseball book of the year by Spitball  magazine.

• It was one of four finalists for the 2002 Seymour Medal.

How to order:

There are three ways to order Louis Sockalexis: The First Cleveland Indian.

or, call McFarland toll-free at 1-800-253-2187.