Larry Doby

I think of Larry Doby often. The first African American player to break the color barrier in the American League, a few weeks after Jackie Robinson began his journey through the National League. Both are members of the MLB Hall of Fame. Both were talented and perennial All-Stars. Surely many of the problems we know Robinson faced were the same for Doby. Furthermore, teams in that era did not compete between the leagues apart from World Series appearances. 1997 MLB retired Robinson's number in every stadium in baseball, despite his never playing in most and despite the fact that Doby was the first black to play in the American ballparks.

I spoke with a friend about Doby and we agreed that most modern fans would hardly recognize the man's name, let alone his status and role in the history of the game. Doby's plight was the same as Robinson's, as the first of his race to play against the teams and in the cities he travelled in a time of segregation and racial inequality. From the time he began playing in MLB until 1951, in the American League only the Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Browns integrated. But the Browns did so with two players at once. Larry Doby stood alone in Cleveland.

It is sad that ESPN articles have to remind us of his special place in baseball history. Everything I have read make him sound like a great man. I wish more people knew his name. It is a shame that MLB did not retire his number in the AL parks instead of Robinson's number.