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By ELBERT AULL
Blethen Maine Newspapers 10/18/2007

Blethen Maine Newspapers

Seven years ago, Penobscot Indian Nation sent a message to the Cleveland Indians: It was time to dump "Chief Wahoo."

Tribal leaders said the red-faced caricature that adorns the Major League Baseball team's uniforms was a demeaning anachronism, more fitting for the days of Cotton Clubs and black face than the 21st Century, and passed a resolution that urged team officials to "eliminate" the logo.

The vote was of special significance to tribal leaders. The Cleveland franchise traces its name to a Penobscot man, Louis F. Sockalexis, the first American Indian to play in the big leagues -- a man who overcame near-constant taunts to shine on the baseball diamond during a short career in the late 1800s.

The resolution is dated Oct. 3, 2000. Penobscot leaders never received a response from Cleveland's front office, and the issue comes front-and-center again as the Red Sox and Indians play tonight with an American League pennant on the line.

"When I'm watching this series, there are a bunch of things going through my mind," said Donna Loring, the Penobscot Nation's representative to the state Legislature and a loyal Red Sox fan.

There's the offensive logo, Loring said. But there's also the nickname "Indians," which honors a fellow Penobscot, she said.

Sockalexis was born on Indian Island and broke into baseball at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

He arrived in Cleveland in 1897, seven years after the Dakota Sioux and U.S. 7th Cavalry squared off at Wounded Knee.

Sockalexis' arrival created such a stir that local newspapers jokingly dubbed his team, the Cleveland Spiders, the "Cleveland Indians."

"Racism was accepted in journalism in that day," said Ed Rice of Orono, the author of a book on Sockalexis. "Sportswriters would write things like, 'He's gonna be scalping people.' "

Sockalexis batted .338, stole 16 bases and drove in 42 runs over 66 games that season. He awed crowds by throwing out base runners from the outfield.

But his season was cut short after an ankle injury that July, reportedly incurred jumping from the second-story window of a brothel.

Sockalexis, burdened by alcohol abuse and racist taunts from opposing players and fans, played sparingly for Cleveland until 1899.

He finished his baseball career in the minors and returned to Maine, where he died of heart failure in 1913.

Cleveland became the Indians permanently two years later after a string of nicknames failed to stick.

While researchers debate whether there is enough evidence to conclude Sockalexis was the inspiration for the name change -- the team maintains he was -- there is much less debate over the origins of Chief Wahoo.

The logo was conceived decades after the 1915 name change and was never meant to resemble Sockalexis, Rice said.

But the red face with buck teeth and a goofy smile strikes a nerve with Penobscot leaders like Loring, who believe it tarnishes the legacy of the very man the team holds up as the inspiration for its nickname.

"That (logo) actually denigrated the contribution that Sockalexis made to the team and to professional sports," she said.

In 2000, the Penobscot Nation's Tribal Council passed a resolution that asked the Cleveland Indians to "eliminate" the Chief Wahoo logo.

"Louis Sockalexis was a handsome, talented and proud Penobscot Indian who is neither being recognized nor honored by the cartoon mascot 'Chief Wahoo,' " the resolution states.

Penobscot leaders sent the document to Cleveland's front office. Rice said he handed the document to Bob DiBiasio, the team's vice president of communications, during a stop in Cleveland to promote his Sockalexis book.

The Penobscots never heard back. It is unlikely they will hear anything soon.

DiBiasio said team officials have no plans to open a dialogue on Chief Wahoo with the tribe.

The team developed an alternate logo, a script "I" meant to resemble a feather, in response to concerns about the Chief, he said.

DiBiasio argues the answer to whether the logo is demeaning lies in the intent of the Cleveland organization rather than the varied perceptions of fans.

"We ask, if there is no intent to demean, can it be demeaning? We have no intent to demean," he said.

Loring said she hopes the Cleveland Indians will someday work with Penobscots to draw up a new, respectable emblem to replace Chief Wahoo.

"I see the name 'Indians' on their uniforms and I immediately think of Sockalexis, and I think that's an honor," she said.

"I think of something else when I see that logo."

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