James Madison Toy a.k.a. Jim Toy (b. February, 1858 in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; d. March 13, 1919 in Cresson, PA , was an early Major League Baseball player of Native American descent, having a short two-year career with the Cleveland Blues and Brooklyn Gladiators.

First Native American Player?

According to writer Ed Rice, Louis Sockalexis was the first American Indian player in major league baseball. In 1963, baseball writer Lee Allen claimed that James Toy, an early American Association catcher, had a Lakota (Sioux) father. This claim has been proven unfounded by Ed Rice (Baseball's First Indian, Tidemark Press, 2003.) Mr. Rice has located Jim Toy's death certificate, which lists Toy's race as "white."

Controversy still remains, due to the inaccuracy of many birth records during that time period.

External links

• The BallPlayers Historical Biographies
• Baseball Refernce Page
• Find-A-Grave biography

Donate to Wikimedia