Non-anglo athletes were once out of mainstream

"Chief" has a pejorative ring to it, were it to be applied to a Native American today. It's a moniker taken from old Saturday matinee movies. Remember the "Indians" out of Three Stooges shorts? I really don't take offense to that because the whole premise of those shorts was to be ridiculous. Those "Indians" who were really just white guys, were along for the ride in all the pathos. Was it denigrating to gorillas, to have that gorilla in the obvious mothball-smelling gorilla suit with The Three Stooges?
There is acceptable parody and then there is mean-spirited parody. Johnny Carson's "Aunt Blabby" seemed to walk the line between the two. I remember hearing that some people found "Aunt Blabby" disrespectful to old people. But then I also remember a spokesman for a senior citizens group saying "knock it off, it's an amusing character." Remember how "she" would fawn over Ed McMahon? I was in the camp of finding Aunt Blabby quite harmless and funny. She had the outward qualities of an old person like gray hair and a cane (which she wielded menacingly!) but really, many elderly people of today would be thankful being as physically healthy as this character was.
I remember the Minnesota Twins baseball player named Mark Salas. He picked up the moniker "Chief." The Jumbotron would flash "Chief" as he came to the forefront. Researching the man today, I cannot find a reference to this. I think I know why. The moniker was pejorative because Salas was not in fact a Native American. Isn't the more precise term today "indigenous person?" Isn't Columbus Day now transformed into "Indigenous People Appreciation Day" in some cities (good idea, I think). Well, Salas was actually of Mexican descent and was dark-complexioned. So, based on knee-jerk impulse, various people decided "Chief" would be an appropriate nickname. As in, "chief of a tribe."
I realize no malice was involved, just as it was innocent the way my generation was amused by the name of Bombo Rivera, also of the Minnesota Twins. Remember him? Time may be drawing a misty curtain. Many Twins fans thought the name "Bombo" was quite a hoot when this black-skinned man joined the team. Those were the days of my generation, the boomers, being quite unapologetic smart asses. It was the days when good ol' Anglo-sounding names were the norm. Maybe it was post-Norman Rockwell but it was still unenlightened.

Subsequent years found my generation acting like the most enlightened people in the world. I'd say we gave the main impetus toward political correctness. Our smart-alecky background is something we have sought to bury or be in denial over, just like our self-destructive habits like excess alcohol consumption and drug use.
I remember hearing about a Bombo Rivera fan club among students at the U of Minnesota-Twins Cities campus. The whole basis of the club, obviously, was the novelty of the player's first name. Bombo! Of course, this man came from a part of the world where such a name does not pique special interest. "Bombo" is the name for a family of Latin American drums. We hadn't yet seen the major influx of non-North American players into big league ball.
 
Making light of Bombo
Over the wide swath of pro sports today, non-Anglo sounding names don't cause a ripple of special attention. No novelty at all. But poor Bombo Rivera played in different times. Even big-time media players, people with supposedly advanced education, got on board with the thoughtless irreverence. I remember vividly the Star Tribune issue that came out right after the opener one spring. Here are the actual words of the headline - ahem - "Bombo, Twins bomb Seattle." Coal in the Christmas stocking of whoever wrote that. I know the article was written by M. Howard Gelfand - I don't know if he wrote the headline. I remember that upon reading the article, I learned that Rivera was not really so dominating. It's as if the headline writer waited all winter to write that cool headline. No one was of a mind back then to make a public issue of this.
Today? Today the headline would never get past the editor's desk. Do we even bother to categorize individual names as "ethnic" today? I think not. It's a fully enlightened new world where you can simply stand proud with your name. I remember a book author who felt he should poke fun at a name he saw on a rookie card one year. It was "Scipio Spinks." Some fans were amused by the name of catcher Manny Sanguillen. My, we have sure grown out of that amusement. I had a friend who was amused by a baseball name that I don't think had any ethnic significance. It was "Harry Chiti," and you can guess how my friend pronounced the last name. Actually all our names are ethnic, aren't they? That's the beauty of our world I guess.
 
Remembering Mark Salas of the Twins
Did you know that Mark Salas is among a handful of major leaguers whose last name is a palindrome? Take the last name and spell it forward or backward, and it's the same. Another example is Truck Hannah. Then we have Eddie Kazak, Toby Harrah and the Nen boys, Dick and Robb, plus a few others. Salas played in the majors from 1984 to 1991. He sadly was with our championship 1987 team for only part of the season. He never got a World Series ring but he did get a consolation prize watch.
I remember watching Salas on TV and being a little annoyed at his flamboyant gesture whenever he wanted to appeal to the first base umpire on a checked swing call. He could be a very good hitter.
But wait, if you think "Bombo" was an attention-getting novelty (rightly or wrongly), consider his real given first name: Jesus. The forerunner for dealing with that issue was Jesus Alou. I remember reading an article in Baseball Digest back in about 1964 where the author suggested that this young man might have to change his name! There was fear it might be offensive because, well, you know. Jesus Alou didn't even pronounce his first name like the Biblical man. It was hay-SOOS and it was a standard name where he came from. Alas, Americans had a narrow, Donald Trump type of attitude about such things then.
Jesus Alou never had to change his name. He was one of three excellent Alou brothers in the big leagues. Jesus hit for a high average but hardly ever drew a walk. He was considered a kind and gentle person to have around the clubhouse.
Bombo Rivera was a native of Ponce, Puerto Rico. His youth baseball manager called him "Bombo" for "fly ball" and the nickname stuck. Rivera batted .271 for the Twins in 1978. I remember seeing him play at the old Metropolitan Stadium. I recall he didn't have much range in the outfield. He had a fine season in 1979, then tailed off in '80, setting the stage for his release. His big league career was essentially over. But he had a renaissance in Japan. Today he lives in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and we hope he came out of the hurricane OK.
Our Garrison Keillor wrote a song called "The Ballad of Bombo Rivera." I'd file that in the politically incorrect category. It mocks his first name. Disrespect was also shown, I'd argue, by the write-in campaign for Rivera for 1979 U of Minnesota student council president.
 
A more irreverent time, remember?
Try to think back to 1979 and '80, all you fellow Minnesotans. Seriously, we were not in love with the Twins then. The '70s in general were a highly cynical time when young people especially were disrespectful toward a wide array of things and people. So the Strib headline writer thought of "bombing" Seattle in connection with the first name. Stupid of course but it was the norm in that age: poking fun. Today we would just take Rivera totally seriously as a man and a baseball player.
Fox Sports North takes all our athletes and teams seriously, even when they lose a lot. Don't you find that to be a breath of fresh air? Remember how John McKay, early coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, put down his own team in such strong terms? How foolish. He didn't have to accept the contract. All pro players, even those on frequently losing teams, have sterling athletic resumes and were superstars in high school. Let's treat all of them right. Today that is our inclination. But not when the boomer generation was young. Admit it, guys.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com