Editing Larry Doby (section)

{{Short description|American baseball player (1923–2003)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Larry Doby
|image=Larry Doby 1953.jpg
|caption=Doby with the Cleveland Indians in 1953
|position=[[Center fielder]] / [[Manager (baseball)|Manager]]
|bats=Left
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1923|12|13}}
|birth_place=[[Camden, South Carolina]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2003|6|18|1923|12|13}}
|death_place=[[Montclair, New Jersey]], U.S.
|debutleague = NgL
|debutdate=  
|debutyear=1942
|debutteam=Newark Eagles
|debut2league = MLB
|debut2date=July 5
|debut2year=1947
|debut2team=Cleveland Indians
|debut3league = NPB
|debut3date=June 30
|debut3year=1962
|debut3team=Chunichi Dragons
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=June 26
|finalyear=1959
|finalteam=Chicago White Sox
|final3league = NPB
|final3date=October 9
|final3year=1962
|final3team=Chunichi Dragons
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.288
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=273
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=1,099
|stat4label=Managerial record
|stat4value=37–50
|stat5label=Winning %
|stat5value=.425
|stat2league = NPB
|stat21label  = Batting average
|stat21value  = .224
|stat22label  = Home runs
|stat22value  = 10
|stat23label  = Runs batted in
|stat23value  = 35
|teams=
;Negro leagues
* [[Newark Eagles]] ({{by|1942}}–{{by|1944}}, {{by|1946}}–{{by|1947}})
;Major League Baseball
* [[Cleveland Indians]] ({{mlby|1947}}–{{mlby|1955}})
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{mlby|1956}}–{{mlby|1957}})
* [[Cleveland Indians]] ({{mlby|1958}})
* [[Detroit Tigers]] ({{mlby|1959}})
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{mlby|1959}})
;Nippon Professional Baseball
* [[Chunichi Dragons]] ({{npby|1962}})
;As manager
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{mlby|1978}})
|highlights=
* [[East–West All-Star Game|NgL All-Star]] (1946)
* 7× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1949]]–[[1955 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1955]])
*[[Negro World Series]] champion ([[1946 Negro World Series|1946]])
* [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1948}})
* 2× [[List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders|AL home run leader]] (1952, 1954)
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders|AL RBI leader]] (1954)
* [[Cleveland Guardians#Retired numbers|Cleveland Guardians No. 14]] retired
* [[Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame]]
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1998 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1998]]
|hofmethod=Veterans Committee
}}

'''Lawrence Eugene Doby''' (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003) was an American professional [[baseball]] player in the [[Negro league baseball|Negro leagues]] and [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) who was the second black player to break [[baseball color line|baseball's color barrier]] and the first black player in the [[American League]]. A native of [[Camden, South Carolina]], and three-sport all-state athlete while in high school in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], Doby accepted a [[basketball]] [[athletic scholarship|scholarship]] from [[Long Island University]]. At 17 years of age, he began his professional baseball career with the [[Newark Eagles]] as the team's [[second base]]man. Doby joined the [[United States Navy]] during World War II. His military service complete, Doby returned to baseball in 1946, and along with teammate [[Monte Irvin]], helped the Eagles win the [[Negro League World Series]].

In July 1947, three months after [[Jackie Robinson]] made history with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Doby broke the [[baseball color line|color barrier]] in the American League when he signed a contract to play with [[Bill Veeck]]'s Cleveland Indians. Doby was the first player to go directly to the majors from the Negro leagues. A seven-time [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] [[center fielder]], Doby and teammate [[Satchel Paige]] were the first African-American players to win a [[World Series]] championship when the Indians took the crown in [[1948 World Series|1948]]. He helped the Indians win 111 games (second-best in MLB history at the time) and the [[pennant (sports)|AL pennant]] in 1954, finished second in the [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|American League Most Valuable Player]] (MVP) award voting and was the AL's [[run batted in|RBI]] leader and [[home run]] champion. He went on to play for the [[Chicago White Sox]], [[Detroit Tigers]], and [[Chunichi Dragons]] before his retirement as a player in 1962.

Doby later served as the second black [[Manager (baseball)|manager]] in the majors with the [[Chicago White Sox]], and in 1995 was appointed to a position in the AL's executive office. He also served as a director with the [[New Jersey Nets]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA). He was selected to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|National Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1998 by the Hall's [[Veterans Committee]] and died in 2003 at the age of 79.