By Larry Mahoney, BDN Staff March 23, 2018 1:00 am BANGOR — Ed Rice, author of a book about Indian Island native and former major league baseball player Louis Sockalexis, is again at the forefront of an effort to recognize the groundbreaking athlete. Rice has teamed up with Theodore Bear Mitchell and John Bear Mitchell on the board of directors of the “Friends of Sockalexis,” a committee that will raise money to build a monument dedicated to Sockalexis. Rice and Theodore Bear Mitchell … [Read more...]

By Ed Rice, Special to the Bangor Daily News He was a college baseball player so legendary in his time that he was inducted into his school’s athletic hall of fame, even though he only attended two years. Then he broke a color barrier and became the first man of his race to play professional baseball. Then he became a professional baseball star, in spite of being subjected to the vilest of racial prejudice and violations of his civil rights from fellow players, fans and the press. Without … [Read more...]

By Joe McLaughlin, Bangor Daily News Staff Bangor native and writer Ed Rice is starting a campaign to find support and interest in building a statue in Bangor of Maine Penobscot Indian Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American to play Major League Baseball. “I’ve believed, for a very long time, that it’s a shame that the first man to break the color barrier in professional baseball has gone totally ignored in his home area,” Rice said in an email to the BDN. “Every year, without fail, I … [Read more...]