Lou Bruce

{{short description|American baseball player (1877-1968)}}

{{for|the Canadian football player|Lou Bruce (Canadian football)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Lou Bruce

|image=Lou Bruce.jpg

|position=Outfielder

|bats=Left

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{birth date|1877|1|16}}

|birth_place=St. Regis, New York, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1968|2|9|1877|1|16}}

|death_place=Ilion, New York, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=June 22

|debutyear=1904

|debutteam=Philadelphia Athletics

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=October 10

|finalyear=1904

|finalteam=Philadelphia Athletics

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.267

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=0

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=8

|teams=

• Philadelphia Athletics ({{mlby|1904}})

}}

Louis R. Bruce (January 16, 1877 – February 9, 1968) was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics during the {{Baseball year|1904}} season.

The son of a Mohawk chief from the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation in upstate New York, he attended Central High School in Philadelphia, where he excelled as a student while playing baseball. Discovered by Ed Barrow, he played for the minor league Toronto Maple Leafs from 1900 to 1903, where he was a two-way player, pitching and playing the outfield and finding success in both roles. He also attended the University of Pennsylvania Dental School during those days, and after retiring as a player, earned a degree in theology from Syracuse University.

He was one of the first Native Americans to reach the major leagues, following Chief Sockalexis, Bill Phyle, his teammate Chief Bender and Ed Pinnance.{{Cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/american_indian_baseball_players.shtml|title = American Indian Major League Baseball Players | Baseball Almanac}}

He was a practicing minister for many years and a promoter of education and citizenship for Native Americans. Bruce helped organize the National Congress of American Indians and advocated for the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act. He married a Sioux woman with whom he had a son, Louis R. Bruce, who served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.{{cite web |title=Louis R. Bruce |url=https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/louis-r-bruce/ |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Archives and Records Center |access-date=21 December 2023 |language=en}}