Mato White Eyes

Jacob White Eyes

• Height > 6' 0"
• High School Educational Home for Boys

• Born 1869 or 1870 in Oglala, SD USA
• Died 1937 in Pine Ridge, SD USA

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Biographical Information

Mato White Eyes learned how to play baseball at the Educational Home for Boys and was said to be the best pitcher on the school's team during his time there. On April 6, 1889 he faced the Pennsylvania Dumb and Deaf Institute team and struck out 21 batters in a game. After an impressive run with the school team, he joined Harry Foote's Philadelphia-based semi-pro team. In July, Foote's team relocated to Hazleton, PA and joined the integrated minor league Middle States League as the Hazleton Pugilists.

In his first two weeks with Hazleton, White Eyes pitched a whopping 59 innings, and through his first month with the club, he had an astonishing earned run average of just 0.88, but racked up some losses on the mound due to Hazleton's defense being atrocious. They once committed 38 errors over the course of three games that month.

By August, White Eyes began to struggle on the mound, his arm likely giving out from throwing so much, and was released. It does not appear that he ever played professional baseball again after this, but he did bounce around with various barnstorming and semi-pro clubs. In 1892 he played for a YMCA team with his old batterymate from Hazleton, Shagowash Graves.

White Eyes was a good friend of the famous Buffalo Bill Cody and was invited to join him on various tours. He was invited to go on a tour in France in 1905, due to the fact that White Eyes spoke French. While performing in Paris, Buffalo Bill and his performers fielded a baseball team, something they often did while on the road, and played three games against a team of American students. White Eyes pitched all three and won them all.