Larry Doby: The Forgotten Pioneer

The problem was that Larry Doby didn't have the proper glove to play at first, and regular first baseman Eddie Robinson refused to give Doby his glove. Traveling secretary Spud Goldstein had to convince Robinson to lend him the glove and then Goldstein gave the mitt to Doby.

Fortunately for Larry Doby, a few of the Indians, such as Joe Gordon, Bob Lemon, Jim Hegan, and Steve Gromek befriended him.

Larry Doby only appeared in 29 games in 1947 and had just five hits in 32 at-bats.

In the winter following his first year in the majors, Doby became the first African-American player in the American Basketball League.

He signed with the Paterson Crescents on Dec. 30, 1947 and made his professional debut in January of 1948. Doby scored 15 points in eight games that season.

Having moved ton center field in 1948, Larry Doby began to blossom. He batted .301 with 14 home runs and 66 RBI.

Doby batted .396 over the last 20 games of the season to help the Cleveland Indians clinch the American League pennant. in the World Series, Doby batted a team-leading .318 .

In the fourth inning of the fourth game of the series, Larry Doby launched a 420-foot home run off of Boston Braves' pitcher Johnny Sain to propel the Indians to a 2-1 victory and a commanding three games to one lead in the World Series. Two games later, the Cleveland Indians won the World Series by shutting out the Braves on the road.

Finally, Doby beat Jackie Robinson to the punch. Larry Doby was the first black to hit a home run in a World Series game and the first to be on a championship team.

!n 1949, Larry Doby batted .280 with 24 home runs and 85 RBI. That year, Doby joined Robinson, Don Newcombe, and Roy Campanella as baseball's first black All-Stars.

Doby was selected to participate in seven straight All-Star games starting in 1949. In 1954, Batting as a pitch-hitter, Doby became the first African American in the American League to hit a home run in an All-Star game in 1954.

!n 1950, Sporting News named Larry Doby the best center fielder in baseball over the likes of Duke Snider and Joe DiMaggio.

Doby led the American League in home runs in 1952 and 1954 by hitting 32 in each season. Doby led the league with 126 RBI in 1954.

The Indians made it back to the World Series in 1964, but the New York Giants swept them to claim the championship.

Although Larry Doby made several errors when he first converted to a center fielder, Doby went 167 games without an error between 1954 and 1955.

Doby's last good season with the Cleveland Indians was in 1955 when he slugged 26 home runs and 75 RBI while batting .291.

After the 1955 season was over, Larry Doby was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Jim Busby and Chico Carrasquel. Doby had a solid year for the Sox batting .268 with 24 home runs and 102 RBI.

Injuries started to take their toll on Doby and he started to get traded quite often. Larry Doby ended up belonging to the Baltimore Orioles and never playing for them when the White Sox traded him to Baltimore on Dec. 3, 1957, and the Orioles turned around and sent Doby back to the Cleveland Indians on Apr. 1, 1958.

Larry Doby played his last season in the majors for the the Detroit Tigers and White Sox 1959. Doby's professional career in the United States ended when he broke his ankle playing with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League later that season.

Larry Doby finished his career with 1,515 hits, 253 home runs, 970 RBI, and a batting average of .283. Doby only had three fewer hits in his career than Jackie Robinson.

Doby played briefly in Japan for the Chunichi Dragons in 1962 and return to the states to coach with the White Sox, Indians, and Montreal Expos.

Larry Doby enjoyed coaching so much he dreamed about becoming the first black manager in baseball. He thought the Indians were going to hire him in 1975 but management selected Frank Robinson instead.

Again, Doby was stuck being second again.

!n 1978, Bill Veeck, who then owned the Chicago White Sox, fired Larry Doby's old friend and ex-teammate Bob Lemon and hired Doby to manage the team.

The team improved under Doby but was only 37-50 the remainder of the season. 

Bob Lemon became the fortunate one because after he was fired by the White Sox, the New York Yankees

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