Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 6, 1993 TAG: 9307060087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: from Associated Press and New York Times reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
The team said last week it would keep the symbol because of fan support. American Indian groups have protested the symbol as racist.
Sen. Jeffrey Johnson, R-Cleveland, called the team's reasoning "asinine and indicative of the ignorance of the owners and management of the baseball corporation."
"This red-face Sambo symbol is an embarrassment to Cleveland," he said. "It's sad that many of Cleveland's baseball fans are blind to the social and personal hurt this logo causes most Native Americans. I am personally offended given the fact that an ancestor of mine was Native American."
Dennis Lehman, team executive vice president, said Monday he would have no comment on Johnson's proposal.
In other baseball:
\ BIG BLASTS PAY OFF: The Coca-Cola Co. will donate $645,000 to build and renovate youth league ballparks around the country - $5,000 for each of the 129 home runs hit by professional players on the Fourth of July.
The donation is part of the company's Homers for America program.
Major-league players hit 23 home runs in 14 games Sunday, two of them by Ed Taubensee of the Houston Astros. Minor-leaguers added 106 homers in 80 games.
Last year, players hit 100 home runs on Independence Day, prompting Coca-Cola USA to donate $500,000 to youth ballparks. The program was expanded to include the 1992 World Series, adding another $60,000. Fifteen youth organizations in 13 cities have received the funds.
by CNB