Like just about every other ballplayer of Native American descent in the early 20th century, star catcher John Torres Meyers (a Cahuilla Indian from California) was called "Chief." After attending Dartmouth, he reached the major leagues at age 28 with the New York Giants in 1909. Appearing in 90 games as a rookie, he caught over 100 games in each of the next six seasons, at the time an unusuaually heavy schedule for a catcher.

The Giants won three straight pennants, from 1911 through 1913, as Meyers had his three best seasons, hitting .332, .358, and .312. Although New York lost all three World Series, Meyers hit .300 in the 1911 Fall Classic and .357 in the 1912 Series. The wear and tear of catching so many games then took its toll on his bat. Traded to Brooklyn in 1916 he helped the Robbins win a pennant. He retired as a player at age 37 in 1917 after nine seasons with a .291 career batting average for 992 games.

In 1920, while managing in a semipro game, he was booed. Disgusted, he quit baseball. Meyers later worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior as an Indian supervisor. He scoffed at his nickname, Chief, bestowed on virtually every athlete of Indian ancestry.

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