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Larry Doby died tonight, at the age of 78.
I had no idea who he was.
Larry Doby was the first African American to play in the American League. He joined Cleveland a couple of months after Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers, and seven years before Brown v. Board of Education.
And I had never heard of him. If I had not wanted to see how the White Sox had done tonight, I still would not know who he was. But Doby went through many of the same struggles that Robinson did, and faced them, as Robinson did, largely alone:
Though he would go on to hit .283 with 253 home runs and 969 RBI in a big league career that lasted through 1959, his locker room reception that first day was chilly. Some teammates would not even shake his hand.
(snip)
"Don't forget Larry Doby,'' Willie Mays once told The New York Times. Referring to white players who had helped Robinson, he added, "From what I hear, Jackie had Pee Wee Reese and Gil Hodges and Ralph Branca, but Larry didn't have anybody.''In his first decade with the Indians, Doby was kept apart from his teammates -- eating in separate restaurants, sleeping in separate hotels -- even during spring training. From players and fans, he was the frequent target of racial taunts.
This was not just baseball. This was an African-American playing baseball. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that integrating baseball started the process of integrating America. And Dolby was a huge, huge part of that. And I had never heard of him until today. Until he died.
Rest in peace, Larry Doby.
Larry was cool. My uncle sold him his first insurance policies in East Orange New Jersey. So I begged to go to Larry's house. He autographed a baseball, and then proceed to give me a few out of his collections, one signed by all the Yankess. He remained close to my uncle. They had big arguments about politics. My uncle a die hard Dem, Larry a Reagan Republican. Why would a minority, my immigrant uncle would ask, vote for Reagan. Larry said Ron reminded him of his hero, Winston Churchill. (Larry was extremely well-read on history and politics.)
Larry ended up convincing all of us to start voting Republican and now we're all going to continue to do so in his memory.
Thanks for bringing back a golden moment in my young baseball fandom and my political conversion.
Posted by: jrkSpring training was probably the hardest time of the season for non-white players, as it was held entirely in the Jim Crow South. Only three major league teams were in cities where segregation had the force of law (Washington, and 2 in St Louis, if I've counted correctly).
Posted by: Andrew LazarusI just don't get it...who in the republican party is stumping for african-americans? I do not understand why Larry and others would vote republican...Granted, politics is sometimes ugly, but the republicans, at least in this century, Abe Lincoln notwithstanding, republicans have and are a disaster for not only black folk, but most white folk, hispanic folk and most other folks in these not so united states of america.
chris
Posted by: christopherI just don't get it...who in the republican party is stumping for african-americans? I do not understand why Larry and others would vote republican...Granted, politics is sometimes ugly, but the republicans, at least in this century, Abe Lincoln notwithstanding, republicans have and are a disaster for not only black folk, but most white folk, hispanic folk and most other folks in these not so united states of america.
chris
Posted by: christopher It was sad when he died!
