Hero to the game of baseball, Doby also heroically served his country
Larry Doby was a pioneer in Major League Baseball who also served his country during World War II. Doby attended high school in Paterson, New Jersey, where played three sports and was an all-state athlete. He signed with the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues to be their second baseman at just 17 years old. He put away the baseball spikes when he joined the Navy in 1943 at 19 years of age. Doby was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center near Chicago before he was transferred to a small island named Ulithi, located in the Pacific Ocean. The island served as a dry dock, supplied and repaired ships, and housed hospital ships that supported the invasions of the Japanese-occupied islands. During his time stationed on the island, Doby's playing skills caught the eye of another ball player.
Mickey Vernon, first baseman for the Washington Senators couldn't help but notice Doby's talent. After seeing him play in games, Vernon wrote letters to the owner of the Washington Senators, Clark Griffith, urging him to sign Doby once the color barrier was broken.
In April of 1946, while listening to Armed Forces Radio, Doby heard the news that would forever change the sports world and his life.
Jackie Robinson, an African-American ball player who was signed to a minor league deal by the Brooklyn Dodgers that offseason, was making his Major League debut.
The news inspired Doby and he adopted a dream to make it to the major leagues. With his military service complete in 1946, Doby enacted on that dream. He returned to the Negro Leagues and helped his Eagles team win the Negro League World Series.
Shortly thereafter, Larry Doby made history of his own.
On July 3, 1947, Doby was signed to a Major League contract by Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck, becoming the first African-American player in the American League. Unlike Robinson, who briefly began his career in the minors, Doby went right to the big leagues.
Two days after he signed, Doby was in Chicago at Comiskey Park, wearing an Indians uniform.
He made his debut that day, inserted into the game as a pinch hitter.
The rest is history. It took time for Doby’s teammates to accept him. He played sparingly in his rookie season piling up just 32 at bats in 29 games; mostly because he played second base and Indians greats Joe Gordon and Lou Boudreau manned the middle of the infield. Doby was moved to the outfield in 1948 and he quickly solidified himself as a starter that season - the year the Indians last won a World Series. Player-manager Lou Boudreau divided the credit for the team’s success that season between Doby and catcher Jim Hegan. Doby went on to play 13 seasons, 10 of them with the Indians, and finished his career with a .283 batting average, 253 home runs, and 970 RBI. He was a seven time All-Star in consecutive years from 1949-1955 with the Indians, and led the American League in home runs twice.
In 1998, Doby was elected into the Major League Baseball Hall Of Fame, because of his play on the field and the impact he had in changing the game. The late Bob Feller, who is arguably the greatest right-handed pitcher of all time was a teammate of Doby's. "He was a great American, served the country in World War II, and he was a great ballplayer,” Feller said. “He was kind of like Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, because he was the second African-American in the majors behind Jackie Robinson. He was just as good of a ballplayer, an exciting player, and a very good teammate." Some would argue that Doby was as good a baseball player as Jackie Robinson. Some would say he was better. Both served their country and performed heroically on the field in a turbulent time for the game and helped forever change the history of baseball.
