SABR Digital Library: Native American Major Leaguers
Add a new baseball book to your collection from the SABR Digital Library:
Native American Major Leaguers
Edited by Rob Daugherty and Bill Nowlin
Associate editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-960819-48-2, $9.99
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-960819-49-9, $34.95
8.5″ x 11″, 316 pages
Native American Major Leaguers presents biographies of over 40 players who appeared in the major leagues, including both those who are well remembered today for their Native heritage such as Jacoby Ellsbury, Charles Bender, Louis Sockalexis, and Jim Thorpe, and those you might not realize, such as Buck Martinez and Kyle Lohse. Then there are those who deserve to be remembered, like Jim Bluejacket and Ike Kahdot, and even a player from the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, Canadian Yolande Teillet, whose mother was Métis.
The book also includes more than a dozen essays on baseball and Native and Indigenous communities, including historical topics such as the legacy of Indian boarding schools, American Indian barnstorming teams, and the translation of baseball rules into Mi’kmaq, as well as recent issues like the changing of Cleveland’s team name and the controversy over the Atlanta Braves’ “Tomahawk Chop.”
When determining who to include in this volume, we chose players who were enrolled citizens of federally recognized Tribes, as listed by the Office of Federal Acknowledgement in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, part of the US Department of the Interior. The first Native American to play major-league baseball was Louis Sockalexis from the Penobscot Tribe in Maine. He played in 1897 with the Cleveland Spiders. Four others are currently playing in the majors in 2025, all of whom are recognized in this book, as well.
Rob Daugherty, the lead editor, is an Enrolled Citizen of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. Rob is a retired educator from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and most recently from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. A graduate of Haskell Indian Nations University, he has been a lifelong geek fan of baseball, having played and coached collegiately. His passion for Native baseball players has evolved into one of the largest collections of Native American baseball cards focused exclusively on Indigenous players prior to 1947. Through extensive research, he has verified 28 Natives who played from 1897 to 1947.
Contributors include: Jeffrey P. Beck, Kelly Bennett, Luis A. Blandón Jr., Terry Bohn, Frederick C. “Rick” Bush, Christopher D. Chavis, Carter Cromwell, Rory Costello, Jon Daly, Rob Daugherty, Rob Fitts, David Fleitz, Todd Fuller, Steven Goldman, Vince Guerrieri, Martin Healy Jr., Colin Howell, John R. Husman, Will Hyland, Don Jensen, Thomas Kahle, Sean Kolodziej, Bill Lamb, Bill Lamberty, Joe Leisek, R.J. Lesch, Allison R. Levin, Len Levin, Stephanie Liscio, Chad Moody, Jack V. Morris, Bill Nowlin, Jonah O’Callaghan, Roger and Deena Parmelee, Royse Parr, Zac Petrillo, Alan Raylesberg, Carl Riechers, Joel Rippel, A.A. Rubin, Jason Scheller, Steven Schmitt, Curt Smith, Douglas Stark, Mark S. Sternman, Tom Swift, Oliver George Tapaha, Stew Thornley, Eric Vickrey, Joseph Wancho, Doug Wedge, Phil Williams, Tom Willman, Ian Wilson, Ryan Woodward, and William Young.
SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!
- E-book: Click here to download the e-book version of Native American Major Leaguers for FREE from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, MOBI, EPUB/Kindle formats.
- Paperback: Get a 50% discount on Native American Major Leaguers paperback edition from the SABR Store ($19.95 includes shipping/tax; delivery via Amazon Kindle Direct can take up to 4-6 weeks.)
Buy the book
- E-book: Click here to download the e-book version of Native American Major Leaguers for $9.99 from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, MOBI, and EPUB/Kindle formats.
- Paperback: Get the paperback edition of Native American Major Leaguers from the SABR Store ($39.95 includes shipping/tax; delivery via Amazon Kindle Direct can take up to 4-6 weeks.)
About the SABR Digital Library
For more than 50 years, SABR and its members have led the way in publishing the best baseball historical and statistical research. Our publications program is shifting to take advantage of new methods of publishing. Not only will we continue to publish new books like Can He Play? A Look At Baseball Scouts and Their Profession (2011); Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century (2013); Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox (2015); Jackie Robinson: Perspectives on 42 (2021), ¡Arriba! The Heroic Life of Roberto Clemente (2022); and Nichibei Yakyu: US Tours of Japan (2023); which showcase the best efforts of SABR’s members, chapters and committees, but new technology makes it possible for us to bring out-of-print titles like When Boston Still Had the Babe: The 1918 World Champion Red Sox (2018); Green Cathedrals (2020); and The Miracle Has Landed: The Amazin’ Story of How the 1969 Mets Shocked the World (2021) back again.
Visit SABR.org/ebooks to find all past titles and download your favorites. Books will be available in digital formats as well as paperbacks produced by “print on demand” (POD).
SABR members can download all Digital Library e-book editions for free and save 50% on purchase of the paperback editions. If you’re not a member, click here to join SABR.
Stay tuned throughout the year for new (and old!) titles that we’ll be adding to the SABR Digital Library. To learn more about SABR Publications, contact Publications Editor Cecilia Tan at ctan@sabr.org.
Having trouble downloading our e-books? Click here for step-by-step instructions or a short tutorial video on how to download SABR digital publications.
Originally published: October 13, 2025. Last Updated: October 13, 2025.