1907 Real-Photo Postcard of the Bangor Base Ball Club with Louis Sockalexis

Sold For:

$1,440

Year:

1907

Auction:

2017 Fall

Lot #:

168

Category:

Prewar Baseball - Early 1900s Cards

Real-photo postcard featuring Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American, and first recognized minority, to play in the National League. The image captures Sockalexis posing with twelve uniformed members of the Bangor Base Ball Club (Maine League) in 1907 (Sockalexis is seated on the ground, far left). Although the postcard is not dated, Sockalexis played with Bangor only for the 1907 season, which represented his final year in organized baseball. 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. The postcard (3.25 x 5.5 inches) displays a few minor pencil notations on the reverse (not addressed or mailed) and is otherwise in Excellent to Mint condition. Reserve $300. Estimate (open).