Lot # 517: Rare 1912 Louis Sockalexis Real-Photo Postcard

Real-photo postcard capturing Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American, and first recognized minority, to play in the National League. This is one of only a few real-photo postcards featuring Sockalexis that we have ever seen and the only one to picture him alone (the other two picture him with members of the Bangor Base Ball Club). It is also the rarest of the three. This is just the fifth example of this particular Sockalexis postcard we have ever offered. The formal studio photograph pictures Sockalexis seated, in uniform, as he gazes pensively at the camera. The preprinted text along the base reads "Louis Sockalexis Penobscot Tribe Old Towne, ME/Copyrighted 1912 by A.F. Orr of Old Town, ME." The postcard (3.5 x 5.25 inches), which has not been addressed or mailed, displays light corner and edge wear. The reverse is mainly clean except for a small area of paper loss consistent with the removal of tape at one time. The story of Louis Sockalexis is one of the most tragic in baseball history. A member of the Penobscot tribe, Sockalexis was one of the most talented players of his time, but his dependence on the bottle abruptly ended his Major League career just as it started. Sockalexis appeared in sixty-six games with the Cleveland Spiders in 1897, finishing the season with a .338 average while wowing the crowds with his spectacular defensive abilities in the outfield and his daring on the base paths. However, an ankle injury that season, combined with all-too-frequent drinking binges, ruined what was sure to be an outstanding pro career. Just two seasons later, after his appearances at the local taverns became much more frequent than his appearances at the ballpark, Cleveland released him. He never played in the Major Leagues again and died in 1913 at the age of forty-two. His popularity never waned, though, and in 1914, the Cleveland Naps were renamed the Indians in honor of Louis "Chief" Sockalexis.