Larry Doby

As I said earlier Larry Doby was the second minority to play baseball after the color barrier was broken. Larry Doby broke it in the American League with the Cleveland Indians. Doby played center field and did it well eventually landing in the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, he died in 2003 virtually unknown, but now you will find out.

Doby was second a lot. He was also the second African-American manager in the major leagues. Doby was signed into the majors by Bill Veeck. You may remember Veeck from my earlier post of unknown Jackie Robinson facts. Veeck would eventually hire Doby to his 1st manager job with Chicago White Sox. He was a .283 career hitter and had 253 home runs and 970 RBIs in 1533 games. Doby lead the league in homers and runs in 1952 and 1954, in OPS and on base percentage in 1950, and in slugging average in 1952. Once in 1952 Doby also hit for the cycle.

However, Doby's legacy will always be that he came second to Robinson and that is why he is virtually ignored. A good portion of the population absolutely does not care that Doby came in second and it is unfortunate. Doby came into baseball the same season that Robinson did. He went through all of the same hatred and he got no accolades. Doby did not make the Hall of Fame until 1998 (5 years before his death). His election to the Hall of Fame can partially be attributed to Sports Illustrated and their work from 1997.

In 1997 Jackie Robinson's number was being retired throughout baseball. At that point Robinson had been dead for years, meanwhile Larry Doby was still alive and was being ignored. Sports Illustrated pointed out that Doby suffered much like Jackie Robinson, but got nowhere near the media attention or support.

The Indians got it right in 1997 having Doby throw out the first pitch at the all star game. This game was 50 years and 3 days after Doby broke the color barrier in the American League.

It's about time we retired #14 as well and not just #42.

-Noland

"Larry Doby was a good and honorable man, and a tremendous athlete and manager. He had a profound influence on the game of baseball, and he will be missed. As the first African American player in the American League, he helped lead the Cleveland Indians to their last World Series title in 1948, became a nine-time All-Star and was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. Laura joins me in sending our condolences to Larry's family during this difficult time." Statement of President George W. Bush, June 20, 2003