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Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More
Larry Doby and Breaking the American League Color Barrier
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If you ask anyone to name the athlete who broke the color line in baseball, they'll immediately answer Jackie Robinson. But if you ask who broke the color line in the American League, there might be a long pause. The answer is Larry Doby, who became a seven time all star, a two time home run champion and was inducted into the Major League Baseball hall of Fame. Yet Doby's accomplishments and his journey remained overlooked despite his historical impact. Learn more about the courageous journey of Larry Doby on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Mint Mobile. Most of you might have something that you're saving up for. Maybe it's the trip of a lifetime, your children, your retirement, or maybe even something nice for yourself. And if you're looking for some extra money, the easiest thing you can do is to cancel your current mobile plan and switch to Mint Mobile. 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The breaking of the color line in baseball was a monumental moment in both the history of American civil rights and baseball. When Jackie Robinson exited the dugout to take his position at first base in Ebbets Field on Opening Day, April 15, 1947, he did so under the cloud of the legacy of Jim Crow. At this point, President Truman had not yet integrated the military, and the Brown vs. Board of Education decision was still seven years away. The legacy of the 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson decision, which established the principle of separate but equal, was still the law of the land. Even Martin Luther King Jr. Was still a junior at Morehouse College. At this point. Jackie Robinson prepared extensively for his debut. Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey devised a grand experiment to integrate Major League Baseball and prepare Jackie Robinson for the challenge. He knew two years before his debut what the plan was and had a full year in the minor leagues before he joined the Dodgers roster. Unlike Robinson, Larry Doby's journey to the majors followed a completely different path. Cleveland Indians executive Bill Veck believed the Negro Leagues were a vast reservoir of baseball talent filled with players who could help a major league team win a pennant. Veeck's 1947 Cleveland Indians were a very good baseball team, but he thought that they could be better if they acquired a star from the Negro Leagues. Veeck outlined his attitude on the transition in an interview of the day of Dolby signing by noting, the entrance of Negroes into the majors is not only inevitable and it is here. Unlike Branch Rickey, who spent years planning Robinson's transition, Veck acted decisively, almost impulsively, in bringing Doby to the Indians. On a morning Doby expected to be playing a doubleheader for the Newark Eagles. A phone call changed everything. The Cleveland Indians had purchased his contract. Doby wanted to play one more game with the Eagles. So he played the first game of the doubleheader. And it's fitting that Doby's last at bat in the Negro Leagues was a home run. After the game, Doby boarded a train in Newark and set off for Chicago to meet his new team. Doby's transition was daunting. He was thrust into the spotlight of history, facing challenges with little comfort or guidance. Branch Rickey provided Jackie Robinson with training and organizational support, while VEC's approach with Dobie was was a sink or swim approach. For Doby, there would be no transition to the minor leagues to get his feet wet, no preparation from the organization, his teammates or the public. Doby was signed on July 4, 1947, and made his debut the very next day against the Chicago White Sox. When it came to choosing players for the challenge, both Larry Doby and Jackie Robinson were easy choices. As great as Jackie Robinson was, it was Larry Doby who possessed all five of the tools that major league scouts look for. Both of them were impressive athletes who could run, hit for average, play defense and throw well. But Robinson lacked the power that Doby had. Doby was a remarkable athlete. He was accomplished in four different sports in high school, and while he excelled at track, basketball and football, Doby was most comfortable on the baseball diamond. Doby was also much younger than Jackie Robinson at 23 versus 28 years old, and Veck was searching for a younger player to add to his team. Dolby's age was an advantage when it came to picking a player that had not yet built an extensive reputation in the Negro leagues. As it would be hard for the media to pick Doby apart, there were also other differences between the two men. Both Doby and Robinson served in the U.S. military during World War II. While Robinson spent his military service protesting unequal treatment. Even facing discipline for removing to move to the back of a bus, Doby kept a much lower profile. Robinson had developed a reputation as a man with strong convictions and unyielding principles. Dobie was more reserved and he had a reputation as being more stoic. His rookie campaign tested these qualities to their limit. Veck never prepared the team for Dobie's arrival. His teammates simply looked on in shock when he showed up. In fact, the Indians manager Lou Bordeaux was completely blindsided by the signing. When Bordeaux first heard the reports of the signing, he actually thought it was a joke. Reports of the first moments in the Indians locker room suggest that many on the team refused to look at Doby and others refused to shake his hand. The poor treatment carried over to the field after his first several days on the team. Doby recalled the difficulty he had warming up when he said, I felt all alone when we went out to the field to warm up to play catch. You knew the way we always did. No one asked me to play. I just stood there for minutes. It seemed like a long time. End quote. Thankfully, Doby did eventually find someone who would play catch with him. Cleveland outfielder and former American League MVP Joe Gordon saw the uncomfortable position that Doby was in and welcomed him after no one else would. When he said simply hey kid, come on, throw with me. Even with Gordon's gesture, Doby spent many hours on the Cleveland bench in solitude. On the road, Doby faced more social isolation as Jim Crow laws forced him into separate hotels and restaurants. The weight Dolby carried was not lost on his teammates, nor was the grace with which he handled it. Pitcher Mel Harder noted, it may have bothered Doby, but he never complained to the other players when he joined. Naturally, it was a tough time. Both Doby and Robinson faced daunting obstacles, including racial slurs and threats in their inaugural season. But the rookie seasons became a major point of contrast for historians. During his rookie campaign, Jackie Robinson flourished. He won the inaugural Rookie of the Year award while leading the league in steals and hitting a robust.297. Perhaps it's not fair to compare the two as they were in different situations, but baseball is a statistics driven sport. Dobie's season lasted just 29 games, a full 11 weeks shorter than Robinson's. Doby faced relentless hostility, getting thrown at by pitchers and harassed by players with no teammates to back him up. All of the challenges caught up with Doby on the field as he only hit.156 in his first partial season in the major leagues. Hitting for power had always been Doby's calling card and the stress of everything that he faced clearly caught up with him that season as he failed to hit a single home run in the 29 games that he played. Dobie characterized his first season and its challenges in his autobiography by noting, I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn't know it was going to be that tough. There was no one there to help me, no one to talk to. I was all alone. Doby's sophomore season was a completely different story, however. He adjusted to pitching at the major league level after a full spring training with the team hitting.301 with 14 home runs for an Indians team that won the World Series. The emotional peak of his sophomore season came when Larry Doby delivered a game winning home run in Game 4 of the World Series. Doby's blast in the third inning gave pitcher Steve Gromek all the run support he needed en route to a 21 Cleveland victory. Doby hit the first home run in a World Series game by a black player in major league history, making a milestone in baseball history. The game running home run is a highlight for any player, but for Doby it was a single post game photograph that immortalized the moment. After the game, a celebration erupted in the locker room. A photographer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper captured an iconic photo of Steve Gromik hugging Larry Doby. Joy radiated from both men, their smiles and embrace capturing a moment forged in victory. Because it was the World Series, newspapers from coast to coast carried the iconic photograph. For many Americans, the this was the first time that they had ever seen a white man and a black man happy and celebrating together. The photo was a clear departure from the norms of the period. For many people, the picture was proof that integration succeeded beyond expectations and the moment defined Dobie's journey and his place in baseball history. In an interview with the New York Times in 1997, Larry Doby reflected on the power of that photo and said, that was a picture that probably did more for the human relationship than anything else. It was a picture of two guys who were happy. One was white, one was black, and it didn't make any difference. This picture carries even more weight than the 1947 shot of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese as it captured a moment at the apex of success during the World Series. After the Indians championship season in 1948, Larry Doby largely settled in and enjoyed a string of all star seasons. Doby routinely hit between 25 and 30 home runs while driving in 100 RBIs while always hitting close to.300. The 1948 season was also special for Doby because he got to share it with another black teammate. Fulfilling Veck's mission to find the best players in the Negro Leagues, The Indians signed 42 year old pitching legend Satchel Paige. Doby finally had someone on the team that he could share his experiences with who, who could relate to what he was going through and somebody who could serve as a mentor. The end of Larry Doby's playing career didn't stop him from continuing to break barriers. Doby became the second black manager in Major League Baseball after he followed Frank Robinson's lead to take position as a skipper of the Chicago White Sox in 1978. He ended his career as the communications director and outreach coordinator for the NBA's New Jersey Nets, where he focused on development programs for inner city youth across New York's five boroughs. Larry Doby passed away in 2003 at the age of 79 from cancer. In his later years he became good friends with another hall of Famer who just happened to be his neighbor, Yogi Berra. Larry Doby was elected to the Baseball hall of fame in 1998 and in 2023 he received the Congressional Gold Medal for his contributions to baseball and civil rights. And lately there's been a campaign to honor his legacy by having all Major League players wear his number 14 on July 5, just as they do Jackie Robinson's no. 42 on April 15. When honoring Larry Doby, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred put his career into perspective, saying, larry Doby will forever be remembered as a pioneer who demonstrated great character and courage throughout his life. His legacy as a trailblazing player and manager endures to this day, and he will always remain one of the great heroes that our national pastime and nation have ever known. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research and writing for this episode was provided by Joel Hermanson. 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