Ernie Koy

Who was Ernie Koy?

Ernest Anyz Koy, nicknamed "Chief," was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for four National League teams from 1938 to 1942. He was born in Sealy, Texas and was of American Indian ancestry. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and played with the Longhorns. He was also a member of the Sigma Nu, Upsilon chapter while on the 40 acres.

After signing with the New York Yankees, his contract was sold to the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1938. He hit a home run in his first at bat with the Dodgers on April 19, and played 142 games that season as an outfielder and one game as a third baseman. He finished the year ranking second in the NL with 15 stolen bases, and ninth with a .468 slugging average. He appeared in 125 games during the 1939 season, and 24 during the 1940 season as an outfielder. In 1940 he batted .301 for the Dodgers. He was traded on June 12, 1940 to the St. Louis Cardinals with Bert Haas, Sam Nahem and Carl Doyle and $125,000 for Curt "Coonskin" Davis and Joe "Ducky" Medwick. He played 91 games as an outfielder with the Cardinals in 1940, and 12 games of the 1941 season with the Cardinals.