Ed Rice, Author of Sockalexis Book, to Give Talk at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Ed Rice, who authored a book on the legendary baseball player Louis Sockalexis Class of 1897, will give a talk on Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Suites B & C (fourth floor) of the Hogan Campus Center at the College of the Holy Cross. The talk is free and open to the public.

In Baseball’s First Indian, Louis Sockalexis: Penobscot Legend, Cleveland Indian (Tide-Mark Press, 2003), Rice sheds light on the myths and legends surrounding Sockalexis’ feats on the diamond. He makes a strong case that Sockalexis was one of the greatest college baseball players of all time while playing at Holy Cross. Then, as the first Native American to play major league baseball, he fought a battle much like Jackie Robinson to gain acceptance and ultimately inspired the change of name from the Cleveland Spiders to the Cleveland Indians.

An accomplished journalist, Rice wrote the biographical profile of Sockalexis that appears each year in the Cleveland Indians Media Guide. He also spearheaded the nomination drive that led to the induction of both Louis and cousin Andrew Sockalexis (a U.S. marathon medal winner in the 1912 Olympics) into the national American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in Lawrence, Kan., in April 2000.

The event is sponsored by the Holy Cross Club of Greater Worcester and the Holy Cross department of athletics.