By Kathryn Dean-Dielman, Commissioner at America 250-OH
Northeast Ohio Baseball Pioneers
A regulation baseball has 216 stitches. 216 also happens to be Cleveland’s area code, and until about 30 years ago, the code for all of Northeast Ohio. Coincidence? Probably, but it’s fun to imagine a connection there. Baseball’s history is long and complicated, which is why perhaps the sport is so “American”. As Northeast Ohio can boast other innovations contributing to American life, it can also claim credit toward diversity in the ballpark.
Larry Doby
In breaking barriers, we recall “firsts,” but what about “seconds”? Larry Doby debuted with the Cleveland Indians on July 5, 1947, only eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson’s well-documented first MLB appearance. Ballplayers in both leagues wear Robinson’s 42 every April 15, the date of his first game, but Doby’s 14 isn’t recognized the same way. Both players faced the same obstacles, discrimination and harassment, both with exemplary class and bravery.
Larry Doby was the first Black player to hit a World Series home run, contributing to the Indians’ last world title in 1948. Doby was named to seven MLB All-Star teams and won two American League home run titles. In 1978, he became the second Black manager in the American League (Chicago White Sox) and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
Louis Sockalexis
On April 22, 1897, Louis Sockalexis donned a Cleveland Spiders uniform as the first Native American Major League ballplayer. Recognizing Sockalexis’s pioneering place in the batting lineup, it’s important to acknowledge that his time in the majors was not easy. Whenever Sockalexis took the field, spectators taunted him with “war dances” and slurs, treating him as an object of ridicule rather than an athlete. The stress of the bigotry took its toll, and his time with the Spiders lasted only three seasons. Some Cleveland fans see Louis Sockalexis as inspiration for the moniker “Indians.” In 2021, the Cleveland Indians joined sports teams across America in retiring names and imagery that many see as racist. After much debate on what the new name should be (and if there should even be a change), the Cleveland baseball team became the Guardians, starting in 2022.
Dorothy Maguire Chapman
Hailing from LaGrange and growing up playing ball with siblings on the family farm, Dorothy worked for a brewery as a teen and led the company’s baseball team to two championships. A scout signed her with the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League for its first season in 1943. Maguire, whose teams included the Milwaukee Chicks, Racine Belles, Muskegon Lassies, and Grand Rapids Chicks, was part of the AAGPBL until 1949. Her story, like others in her league, remained largely untold until the 1992 film A League of Their Own.