Larry Doby: Integration In The Shadows

This weekend, the movie 42 is set to hit theaters. 42 is mostly the story of Jackie Robinson's first two years in MLB, and most of the reviews of this film are extremely positive. If the film gets a good reception from audiences, it could make a lot of money and catapult up the list of all-time great baseball movies. Most people know the story of Jackie, and what he went through integrating baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. He was a true man of courage and character, to be respected and admired for what he went through to play the game he loved when he was asked.

However, there's another story that often gets forgotten. This is the story of a man who integrated a league and faced most of the same challenges Jackie faced. He dealt with all of the same racism, and played in hostile environments daily. Jackie was first, but this man was not far behind in that summer of 1947, breaking into the American League on July 5th. His name was Larry Doby, and he broke with the Cleveland Indians.

Like Jackie, Larry had grown up a tremendous athlete, who excelled in several sports. He lettered in eleven different sports in high school. He spent time in the Pacific during the end of WWII loading and unloading ships for the Navy. Doby did the only thing he could do with baseball after the Navy, he went to play for a great Negro League club, the Newark Eagles. He lead the Eagles to the Negro League title with a .348 average in '46, and through the first part of '47 was hitting .458.

In 1946, Bill Veeck bought the Cleveland Indians. He had, supposedly, attempted to buy the Phillies back in 1943 with the intention of stocking them full of Negro League stars and once and for all ending the color barrier. Veeck's purchase was supposedly denied after his plans were discussed with Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis. However, this story has been the point of controversy as to the authenticity of it all. Some say Veeck was lying about these events, while others say it was true. Whatever the case, in 1947 he had his chance to make history and signed Larry Doby. Doby made his debut on July 5th, 1947, and struggled. He hit .156 in 29 games, while only seeing 33 plate appearances.

The Indians were definitely intent on sticking with him for at least another season. In 1948, Doby found his stroke and put up solid numbers. He hit .301/14/66 and played superb center field. Doby became the first black player to win a World Series that year. Doby went on to have many more solid seasons, leading the league in key statistics like home runs, runs scored and RBI at different times over his playing career.

During the time of baseball integration, the National League integrated more quickly than the American League. The senior circuit seemed to have owners who realized the potential of the larger player pool over their own possible feelings toward African-Americans, more so than the American League owners. The National League clubs basically got free choice over the cream of the Negro League crop. Stars like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were scooped by the Braves and Giants, while some American League clubs whiffed at the opportunity.

The Red Sox gave Jackie Robinson an early tryout in 1946, but with no intentions whatsoever of signing him. Reportedly, during this tryout, Robinson was the target of racial language from players and coaches alike. The Red Sox also missed a golden opportunity to sign Willie Mays, when owner Tom Yawkey let his bitter racism get the better of his business sense. It wasn't until 1959 that the Red Sox finally signed a black player, Pumpsie Green, becoming the last club to integrate.

Playing in the more divisive league was not easy for the early entries like Doby. Over the early seasons for Doby, most American League teams rarely saw a black player. Doby had to endure the same kind of animosity from players as well as fans that Jackie received. But, Jackie seemingly had more fans on his own team, like Pee Wee Reese, who were willing to stick up for him against the attacks. One of the main reasons we don't know a lot of the stories of players' racism toward Doby, is because Doby doesn't tell those stories. He stated numerous times that he holds no ill will toward anyone from his baseball career for anything they may have said to him or their actions. He carried with him a faith in God and a strong belief in forgiveness.

Larry Doby remarked in an interview with Fay Vincent, that he felt alone when he was called up. He stated that on that first day, he went out to play catch during warm ups. Nobody would acknowledge him. Finally, he said, Joe Gordon called over to him to throw the ball around. Once the other Indians players saw what Joe did, being a Yankee legend and former MVP, Doby felt he was more accepted by the other players.

After inexplicably being passed over for several years, Larry Doby was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1998 by the veteran's committee. One of the key votes came from Yogi Berra, who said Doby had every skill that makes a great player. After his playing career with the Indians and White Sox, he became manager of the White Sox in 1978. At that time, this made him only the second African-American manager in MLB history.

During his career, Doby saw as much or more racism than Robinson. Jackie played for a premiere club that protected him, but Doby played in a league that definitely wasn't as receptive to his "appearance" on the diamond. Certainly, I plan to see the film 42. I hope it is well-done, and I hope that it captures the spirit of the times for what they truly were. I also hope that somewhere, buried in the two hours of drama, they make a mention of Mr. Doby. He may have integrated in the shadows of Robinson, but he deserves his mention. Doby should be remembered for his career, for his talent, for his courage and his character, just like Jackie. He deserves that much.


Information for this blog post was collected from baseball-reference.com, Yahoo! Sports, Wikipedia and thediamondangle.com