By
Murray Carpenter
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2009/07/29/maine_bows_to_tribes_athletic_stars/
Condensed by
Native Village
Maine bows to
tribe’s athletic stars
Tribute
honors Sockalexis feats a century
late
INDIAN ISLAND,
Maine - Louis Sockalexis, who
most historians say was the
first Native American to play
major league baseball, grew up
on this island reservation in
the late 1800s. According to
Penobscot tribal lore, he could
throw a baseball across the
Penobscot River at the old ferry
landing.
His cousin Andrew Sockalexis, a marathon star a century ago, did his winter training on a track cleared on the frozen river.
The Penobscot
tribe asserts that the
Sockalexis' legacies have been
overlooked and misunderstood for
too long. In the Maine
Legislature, tribal
representative Wayne Mitchell
sponsored two resolutions: one
to honor Louis Sockalexis who
played baseball with the
Cleveland Spiders in 1897; the
second to honor Andrew, who
placed fourth in the 1912
Olympic marathon and was twice a
runner-up in the Boston
Marathon.
Last
month, the Maine Legislature
agreed to the resolutions.
Last
month, the Maine Legislature
agreed to the resolutions.
Penobscot
Chief Kirk Francis said the
Sockalexis cousins have never
been forgotten on Indian Island.
“They were
always talked about in my
upbringing on the reservation,’’
Francis said. He said Andrew
Sockalexis “ran countless laps
on a track on the frozen
river.’’ Of Louis Sockalexis,
Francis said, “He batted left
and threw right with great
power.’’ Francis said Sockalexis
hit three triples in his first
game at the College of the Holy
Cross. As a pitcher there,
Francis said, he pitched a
number of shutouts and at least
two no-hitters.
Francis also
said Sockalexis hit a home run
on the first pitch of his first
at-bat in the major leagues in
New York. But Sockalexis
constantly faced racism and
racist remarks for being Native
American.
Ed Rice, who
wrote biographies of both
Sockalexis cousins, said that
Louis’s stint with the Cleveland
Spiders inspired the name for
today's team, the Cleveland
Indians. He said Louis played a
historic role in changing the
major leagues.
“He’s the man
50 years before Jackie Robinson
who broke the color line,’’ Rice
said. “ ‘Sock’ broke the red
color line.’’
Despite their
accomplishments, the Penobscots
believe the cousins have been
overlooked and disrespected by
media outlets and baseball
institutions.
Specifically,
they say: The National Baseball Hall of Fame has not officially acknowledged Louis Sockalexis as the first Native American to play in the majors;
The Cleveland Indians refuse to stop using the mascot Chief Wahoo, an Indian caricature disrespectful of the legacy of Louis Sockalexis;
Sports Illustrated left the cousins off a 1999 list of 50 greatest Maine athletes.
In their recent resolutions, Maine legislators asked the Cleveland Indians, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and Sports Illustrated address these concerns. The responses were:
“We as an
institution do not at this time
make those types of declarative
statements that reflect the
first of a certain ethnicity or
group to make contributions to
baseball>’’ Brad Horn, Hall of
Fame spokesman.
“These lists
are very subjective, and should
we produce a similar list in the
future we will give them the
utmost consideration, which they
deserve.’’ Sports Illustrated
spokesman.
The
Cleveland Indians did not return
calls seeking comment.
Tribal Elder
Butch Phillips is surprised that
concerns about the Indians
mascot have gone unanswered for
so long. He and the Penobscot
Tribal Council wrote the team in
2000 asking that it stop using
the mascot. Phillips said the
appeal, and a subsequent letter,
went unanswered.
“I hope
these resolutions get people to
see there are more people than
just the Penobscot Nation that
are concerned about the legacies
of the Sockalexis cousins,"
Chief Francis said. "It’s all
part of honoring our ancestors,
and making sure they get the
respect they are due.’’
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