"Baseball legend recounts how [Louis Sockalexis] dazzled Cleveland fans in 1897. With the first Native American ever to play pro baseball so dominant, Ohioans started calling his team 'The Indians.' His on-field feats and Apollo-like physique had already inspired a Maine writer and rival manager Gilbert Patten, using the pseudonym Burt L. Standish, to create the mythical scholar-detective-superstar dime-novel athlete Frank Merriwell. The great sportswriter Harry Grayson would judge Sockalexis faster than Ty Cobb, stronger than Babe Ruth, and a better outfielder than Tris Speaker.

Sockalexis’s rookie year was so dramatic, with his .331 batting average, that 18 years later, in 1915, the franchise resurrected that magical moment. Calling the club “The Indians” made a name that’s now considered racist by some actually a salute to honor this hero, this Native American 'Jackie Robinson,' and his people.

Read over the simple story. Savor the legend. Imagine his greatness. Now learn the truth."

Read the whole fascinating story from Gil Troy over at The Daily Beast.