Moses J. Yellow Horse facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Moses Yellow Horse
Pitcher
Born: (1898-01-28)January 28, 1898 Pawnee, Oklahoma
Died: April 10, 1964(1964-04-10) (aged 66) Pawnee, Oklahoma
Batted: Right Threw: Right
debut
April 15, 1921, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last appearance
October 1, 1922, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB statistics
Win–loss record	8–4
Earned run average	3.93
Strikeouts	43
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1921–1922)

Moses J. "Chief" Yellow Horse (January 28, 1898 – April 10, 1964) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1921 and 1922. An Oklahoma native, Yellow Horse, a Native American from the Pawnee tribe, was the first full-blooded American Indian to have played in the major leagues.

Early life

Yellow Horse was born in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) to Clara and Thomas Yellow Horse in early 1898 (one source lists his given name as "Mose", though all other sources give it as "Moses"). Yellow Horse was a full-blooded Native American since his parents were Native Americans of unmixed ancestry. Additionally, he was ordered to attend a traditional school by the Indian Agency. It was at the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School that Yellow Horse started his baseball career. In 1917, he performed at a high level for the school, and compiled a win–loss record of 17–0.

Professional baseball career

After Yellow Horse left Chilocco, he went to pitch for the Little Rock Travelers of the minor league Southern Association. In 1920, under the tutelage of Kid Elberfeld, he helped the team to its first championship.

In 1921, Yellow Horse joined the Pittsburgh Pirates. His major league debut was on April 15 in relief of Earl Hamilton. The Pirates won the game 3–1 over Eppa Rixey and the Cincinnati Reds. Later that year, he ruptured his arm and had to have surgery. His injury forced him to sit out two months. The next year, Yellow Horse injured his arm a second time. The injury was purportedly a result of a fall. Over his two-year stay with the Pirates, Yellow Horse was used primarily as a reliever, and compiled a record of 8 wins and 4 losses.

While with the Pirates, Yellow Horse befriended Rabbit Maranville. The relationship had a profound impact on his life.

Unable to pitch in the major leagues, because of his injuries, Yellow Horse went to play minor league baseball. In 1923, he was sent to play with the Sacramento Senators of the Pacific Coast League. The next year, he suffered another serious arm injury and Sacramento traded him to Fort Worth, Texas. Shortly thereafter, Fort Worth returned him to Sacramento. He spent two more years with Sacramento when, in January 1926, Sacramento sold Moses to Omaha. He pitched the final game of his professional career on May 1, 1926.

While Yellow Horse is believed to be the first full-blooded Native American to play major league baseball, there had been previous major league baseball players of Native American ancestry. These included Louis Sockalexis (Cleveland Spiders, 1897–1899), Charles Albert (Chief) Bender (primarily the Philadelphia Athletics, 1903–1917), and John (Chief) Meyers (primarily the New York Giants, 1909–1917).

Dick Tracy and Yellow Pony

Like Yellow Horse, cartoonist Chester Gould was also born on the Pawnee reservation. Gould used Yellow Horse in his Dick Tracy comic strip as the model for a character named Yellow Pony. Other than the name, the only real similarity between live model and comic strip character was a big, strong physique.

Statistics