Larry Doby

Baseball Player

• Born: December 13, 1923
• Birthplace: Camden, South Carolina
• Died: June 18, 2003
• Place of death: Montclair, New Jersey

Sport: Baseball

Early Life

Lawrence Eugene Doby was born to David and Etta Doby in South Carolina in 1923. Larry’s father, who had a reputation as a great baseball hitter, worked away from home most of the time, grooming horses. With Larry’s mother also working away from home, Larry’s grandmother, Amanda Brooks, reared him during most of his early years, teaching him strict discipline, reading and writing skills, and the importance of church attendance. When Larry’s grandmother developed a mental illness, Larry’s mother placed her son under the tutelage of her sister, where he spent four happy years. Larry attended Mather Academy in Camden, South Carolina, where he played organized baseball for the first time in his life.

In 1938, Larry graduated from the eighth grade, and his mother insisted that he move with her to Paterson, New Jersey, to attend high school. Larry lettered in four sports at Paterson East Side High School, then entered Long Island University on a basketball scholarship in 1942. He later transferred to Virginia Union University prior to joining the U.S. Navy in 1943.

The Road to Excellence

While still in high school, Larry played a few games of professional baseball with the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League under the alias “Larry Walker” in order to protect his college eligibility. Following graduation, he played with the Eagles during the summer of 1942, batting .391 in twenty-six games. While in the Navy, Larry played for the Great Lakes Naval Training School team, where he encountered racial discrimination.

Discharged from the Navy in early 1946, Larry returned to professional baseball, playing the winter in Puerto Rico and then rejoining the Newark Eagles. In the 1946 season, Larry hit .348 for the team and helped lead it to the Negro World Series title. In 1947, Larry married his teenage sweetheart, Helyn Curvy, and they reared five children.

During the first half of the 1947 season, Larry was leading the Negro National League with a .458 average and 14 home runs, when the challenge came to play in the major leagues. After weeks of rumors, Larry was told that his contract had been purchased by Bill Veeck’s Cleveland Indians on July 3, 1947. On July 5, he made his major-league debut, striking out as a pinch hitter. Larry had become the first African American to play in the American League (AL), and only the second African American to play Major League Baseball, following Jackie Robinson of the National League Brooklyn Dodgers by eleven weeks. During his first half-season with the Indians, Larry received limited playing time.

The Emerging Champion

In 1948, after converting from an infielder to an outfielder, Larry batted .301, hit 14 home runs, and led the Cleveland Indians to the American League title. In the World Series against the Boston Braves, Larry hit .318 and became the first African American to hit a home run in the World Series, blasting a 400-foot game-winner off Braves pitching star Johnny Sain in game four. Larry helped lead the Indians to the series win over the Braves and became the first African American to play on a World Series champion team.

After leading major-league outfielders with 14 errors in 1948, Larry worked hard to become an excellent fielder. In 1950, he was selected as the top center fielder in the major leagues, ahead of Joe DiMaggio and Duke Snider. During one stretch of his career, Larry made no errors in 164 consecutive games.

Continuing the Story

During the 1952 season with the Indians, Larry became the first former Negro League player to win a major-league home-run title, leading the American League with 32 homers. In 1954, he led the American League in home runs with 32 and in RBI with 126, finishing second to Yogi Berra in the most valuable player voting. He helped the 1954 Indians win 111 games and return to the World Series, where the team lost to the New York Giants.

Larry played in every major-league all-star game from 1949 through 1954 and was the first African American to hit a home run in the all-star game. After a successful career playing for the Indians, Chicago White Sox, and Detroit Tigers, Larry retired from the major leagues in 1959, after breaking an ankle while sliding into third base. His final major-league statistics boast a .283 average, with 253 home runs and 970 RBI.

In 1969, Larry reentered professional baseball as a hitting coach for the Montreal Expos. He later coached for the Indians and the White Sox. Because of his ability to communicate with the players and adapt instruction to their styles and abilities, Larry proved to be an effective coach. In 1978, he became the second African American to manage a Major League Baseball team, when he was selected to pilot the White Sox for much of the season. Although he was able to improve the team’s performance, his players could not win a pennant, and Larry was released at the end of the season.

In the 1990’s, Larry received some well-earned rewards. On July 3, 1994, the Cleveland Indians retired his jersey, number 14. In 1997, Larry was hired as an assistant to AL president Gene Budig. In addition, the 1997 all-star game, played in Cleveland, was dedicated to Larry, and he acted as honorary AL captain. Finally, on July 26, 1998, Larry was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame when the Veterans Committee selected him.

Summary

Possessing exceptional athletic ability and a staunch constitution, Larry Doby was immortalized as the first African American to break the color barrier in the American League. Furthermore, he was the first African American player to lead the major leagues in home runs, to hit a home run in the World Series, and to hit a home run in an all-star game. He is one of only four players to play in both a major-league and Negro League World Series.

Bibliography

Boyer, Mary Schmitt. Indians Essential: Everything You Need to Know to Be a Real Fan! Chicago: Triumph Books, 2007.

Freedman, Lew. African American Pioneers of Baseball: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007.

Jacobson, Steve. Carrying Jackie’s Torch: The Players Who Integrated Baseball and America. Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 2007.

Moore, Joseph Thomas. Pride Against Prejudice: The Biography of Larry Doby. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 2006.

Roberts, Russell. One Hundred Baseball Legends Who Shaped Sports History. San Mateo, Calif.: Bluewood Books, 2003.