There are fourteen former ballplayers who were either commonly called "chief" or simply nicknamed "chief" and in the Encyclopedia of North American Indians they wrote, "It is worth pointing out that while American Indian ballplayers were nearly always called 'Chief,' this nickname was used much less often among Indians themselves. John 'Chief' Meyers, for example, a Mission Indian who played against Bender, referred to him as Charlie."
Did you know that the words King Gustav V of Sweden spoke in the 1912 Olympics — "You sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." — are inscribed on Jim Thorpe's rose granite sarcophagus?

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1903 Fort Spokane Baseball Team |
1908 Skitwish Boys Baseball Team |
1912 Tulalip Indian School Baseball Team |
Tribes have a LONG tradition of playing baseball, both on an off the reservation (as illustrated by some of the classic [pre-1913] photos seen above). Other players have had a fraction of Native American blood including, but not limited to: Gene Bearden, Johnny Bench, Howie Fox, Nippy Jones, Ernie Koy, Roy Meeker, Willie Stargell, Joseph Tipton, Jim Toy (possibly the first part-Indian player to make it to the Major Leagues), Thurman Tucker, Virgil Trucks, Zack Wheat & Early Wynn.
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