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Navajo baseball player headed to the playoffs
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Filed Under: Sports

Jacoby Ellsbury has already made history as the first Navajo baseball player to play in the major leagues.

Now comes another first as Ellsbury becomes the first Navajo to compete in the playoffs. The Boston Red Sox kick off the American League Championship Series this Friday against the Cleveland Indians.

Ellsbury, 24, was named the American League Rookie of the Month in September. In 33 games, he has a .353 batting average, with three home runs and 18 RBIs.

His Native heritage has been widely covered but his family says the media has often gotten it wrong. "When he was in Omaha, they said he was from Zuni and from Hopi," one relative told The Farmington Daily Times. "That's what they said on national air. They're really ignorant about that."

Another story described his mother as a rug weaver. "These reporters think we're all still herders," Emily McCabe Allison, Ellsbury's aunt, said.

Ellsbury is a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes of Arizona, which is made up of the Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi and Navajo descendants.

Get the Story:
Breaking through (The Farmington Daily Times 10/9)

Relevant Links:
Boston Red Sox - http://redsox.mlb.com

Related Stories:
Navajo baseball player makes his mark in Boston (10/8)
Navajo baseball player leaves big impression (07/09)
Navajo player makes big impact on baseball field (7/5)
Navajo baseball player makes major leage debut (7/2)
Native athletes headed to major league baseball (3/29)

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