INDIAN ISLAND, Maine (AP) — Leaders of Maine's Penobscot Indian Nation are calling attention to a baseball player whose contributions to America's pastime have been largely overlooked.
Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis and tribal Rep. Wayne Mitchell gathered with others Tuesday at the Indian Island grave of Louis Sockalexis to make their point. Sockalexis played professional baseball for the Cleveland Spiders a century ago and batted .338 in 66 games in his first season.
A resolution from the Maine Legislature calls him the "first known American Indian to play major league baseball." The resolution criticizes Sports Illustrated for not including Louis or his cousin Andrew, an Olympic runner, on its list of Maine's 50 greatest athletes.
A spokesman for the magazine had no immediate comment.
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