Baseball Hall of Fame Disrespect

Journalist Ed Rice of Orono has been an advocate for Native Americans’ rights in sports since the 1970s. He has written commentaries, given speeches and penned a book titled “Baseball’s First Indian, Louis Sockalexis: Penobscot Legend, Cleveland Indian,” where he argues that Sockalexis deserves recognition as baseball’s first Native American ball player.

The stated mission of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, in Cooperstown, New York, is “to preserve history, honor excellence and connect generations.” It fails on all three counts where Native American players and history are concerned.

“Forget Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, put Louis Sockalexis in the Baseball Hall of Fame!” To hear that truly great master of being disingenuous and champion of using “Straw Man” fallacies — using logic fallacies I’ve cautioned my students not to use on their peers in my oral communications classes for a decade — you’d think that is my position and the Penobscot Nation position, according to Bradford Horn, National Baseball Hall of Fame public relations director.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Ed Rice made his case for Indian Island legend Louis Sockalexis on Friday afternoon, asking for recognition and respect for the baseball player during a talk at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

OLD TOWN – A little more than 100 years after Louis Sockalexis stepped on to a baseball diamond as a Major League Baseball player in Cleveland, Nate Lonko stood in the infield of Old Town High’s baseball field, posing for a photo with a bat over his shoulder.

Probably because of the nature of his brief, meteoric career in Cleveland, Louis Sockalexis remains an enigmatic figure … not only for the Indians Major League Baseball team and its fans, but those concerned with the issue of disrespect for Native Americans in America today.