Editing Larry Doby (section)

===Cleveland Indians===

====1948–1950====
{{Quote box
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|quote=He was a great American, served the country in World War II, and he was a great ballplayer. He was kind of like [[Buzz Aldrin]], the second man on the moon, because he was the second African-American in the majors behind Jackie Robinson. He was just as good of a ballplayer, an exciting player, and a very good teammate.
|source=—Hall of Famer [[Bob Feller]], teammate with Doby 1947–55<ref name="Comments">{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20030619&content_id=383011&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=null|title=Comments about and from Larry Doby|work=[[Major League Baseball|MLB.com]]|date=June 19, 2003|access-date=July 14, 2012}}</ref>
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In 1948, Doby experienced his first spring training with the Indians in [[Tucson, Arizona]]. Unlike their white teammates, Doby, along with [[Satchel Paige]] and [[Minnie Miñoso]], were not permitted to stay at the nearby Santa Rita hotel but instead stayed with a local black family and used a rental car provided by the Indians for transportation.<ref name="Ebony" />{{rp|p.71}} During spring training, Doby read books concerning outfield play, and received instruction and encouragement from former Indians manager [[Tris Speaker]] and Indians' farm system director [[Hank Greenberg]].<ref name="Ebony" /> Doby also credited Indians [[Coach (baseball)|coach]] [[Bill McKechnie]] with helping him adjust to the majors and learning the outfield.<ref name="Anderson" /> In an exhibition game in Houston against the [[New York Giants (MLB)|New York Giants]], Doby hit a home run that "may have traveled 500 feet before landing far beyond the fence in center field."<ref name="Experience">{{cite book|url=http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=MPJ&chapterID=MPJ-878&path=books/greenwood|title=The African American Experience: Pride Against Prejudice: The Biography of Larry Doby|last=Moore|first=Joseph Thomas|location=Westport, Connecticut|publisher=Praeger Publishers|date=August 23, 2012|access-date=August 24, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523041835/http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=MPJ&chapterID=MPJ-878&path=books%2Fgreenwood|archive-date=May 23, 2013}}</ref> As Moore wrote in his biography of Doby, "With that home run, all doubts that Doby would make the 1948 Cleveland team vanished.<ref name="Experience" /> That year, he played in 121 games and hit .301 for the season with 14 home runs and 66 RBIs.<ref name="Ebony" />{{rp|p.71}} Throughout the regular season Doby was racially abused by opposing teams, and Veeck asked AL president [[Will Harridge]] for support in getting players to rein in their animosity towards Doby.<ref name="Ebony" />{{rp|p.71}}

Doby played a major role in Cleveland's [[1948 World Series|World Series]] victory against the [[Atlanta Braves#History|Boston Braves]]. In Game 4 on October 9, Doby hit the first home run by a black player in World Series history.<ref name="Dream" /> A picture featuring an embrace between Doby and white teammate [[Steve Gromek]], who had pitched a complete game that day, was on the cover of the next day's ''Plain Dealer''.<ref name="Guys" /> [[Richard Goldstein (writer born 1942)|Richard Goldstein]] of ''The New York Times'' called the photograph "a signature moment in the integration of Major League Baseball."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/23/sports/steve-gromek-82-a-pitcher-who-is-best-known-for-a-picture.html|last=Goldstein|first=Richard|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 23, 2012|access-date=August 4, 2012|title=Steve Gromek, 82, a Pitcher Who Is Best Known for a Picture}}</ref> Of the picture, Doby said, "The picture was more rewarding and happy for me than actually hitting the home run. The picture finally showed a moment of a man showing his feelings for me."<ref name="Man">{{cite book|title=The Best Man Plays: Major League Baseball and the Black Athlete, 1901–2002|last=O'Toole|first=Andrew|url=https://archive.org/details/bestmanplaysmajo0000otoo|url-access=registration|page=68 |year=2003|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=9780786414949}}</ref>{{rp|p.66}} The Indians defeated the Braves in six games and with it, Cleveland had its first World Series championship since the 1920 season. Doby's .318 batting average during the Series led the Indians. Nationally syndicated columnist [[Grantland Rice]] argued that without Doby and [[Gene Bearden]], who had won 20 games that year, the Indians would have finished in fourth or fifth place.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rice |first=Grantland |date=1949-03-22 |title=Top Rookies of 1949 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-news-top-rookies-of-1949/166545969/ |access-date=2025-02-24 |work=The Miami News |page=4B |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> After the Series, Doby received a celebratory parade in Paterson, New Jersey, and during the offseason he, along with other teammates, appeared in the 1949 film ''[[The Kid From Cleveland]]''.<ref name="Lew" />{{rp|p.115}} With additional income available due to the post-season run and Series championship, Doby and his wife attempted to buy a home in Paterson in an all-white neighborhood but were kept out by a petition from members of the community. The Dobys were allowed to purchase their desired home when the Paterson city mayor intervened on their behalf.<ref name="Man" />{{rp|p.67}}

[[File:Larry Doby 1951.jpg|right|thumb|190px|A 1951 Bowman trading card of Doby]]
During the 1949 season, Doby was selected to his first [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|MLB All-Star Game]]. He was one of five Indians selected by Boudreau and joined Jackie Robinson, [[Roy Campanella]] and [[Don Newcombe]] as the first black players to be amongst those chosen to participate in the [[1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1949 All-Star Game]].<ref name="Classic">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6IqPLQE4HekC&q=larry+doby&pg=PA105|title=The Midsummer Classic: The Complete History of Baseball's All-Star Game|last1=Vincent|first1=David|last2=Spatz|first2=Lyle|last3=Smith|first3=David W.|year=2001|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|location=Lincoln, Nebraska|isbn=0-8032-9273-2}}</ref> Boudreau fined Doby after he attempted to steal home with no outs and bases loaded in a game against the Yankees on July 20. Of the fine, Boudreau said, "It was not based only on that attempt to steal home. Larry has taken several unnecessary chances lately. This should make him more careful."<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=[[Evening Independent]]|date=July 21, 1949|access-date=August 25, 2012|title=Doby Fined By Boudreau After Boner|agency=Associated Press|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zr8LAAAAIBAJ&pg=3706,1507222&dq=larry+doby+fined&hl=en}}</ref> His home run (24) and RBI (85) totals increased during the 1949 season, and by 1950, he was considered the best center fielder in the game by ''[[Sporting News|The Sporting News]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.phillytrib.com/sports/baseball/baseball-great-doby-receives-postage-stamp.html|title=Baseball Great Doby Receives Postage Stamp|date=April 5, 2012|access-date=July 14, 2012|newspaper=[[Philadelphia Tribune]]|last=Hunt|first=Donald|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140413203318/http://www.phillytrib.com/sports/baseball/baseball-great-doby-receives-postage-stamp.html|archive-date=April 13, 2014}}</ref> By the first week in July, Doby's .370 batting average trailed only 1949 AL batting champion [[George Kell]], who had a .375 average.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SmpgAAAAIBAJ&pg=3156,756772&dq=larry+doby+1950+season&hl=en|access-date=August 21, 2012|date=July 4, 1950|newspaper=[[Star-News|The Wilmington News]]|agency=Associated Press|title=Kell Tops Doby in AL Hitting by Five Points}}</ref> He earned career-bests in batting average (.326), hits (164) and [[on-base percentage]] (OBP) (.442), while playing in 142 games. Doby hit the 100-RBI mark (102) for the first time in his career while his OBP led the AL. He finished eighth in AL MVP voting, highest among outfielders.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gBAmAAAAIBAJ&pg=1904,4751663&dq=larry+doby+1950+season&hl=en|title=Rizzuto Voted Most Valuable|last=Hand|first=Jack|access-date=August 24, 2012|date=October 27, 1950|newspaper=[[Tampa Bay Times|St. Petersburg Times]]|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> At the end of the season, Cleveland signed him to a new, more lucrative contract.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kLYhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3689,3156103&dq=larry+doby+1951+season&hl=en|title=Larry Doby Signs for Handsome Raise|access-date=August 23, 2012|newspaper=[[Reading Eagle]]|agency=Associated Press|date=January 11, 1951}}</ref> Doby was named by Cleveland sports writers as the Cleveland Baseball Man of the Year after the season, the first time a black player was chosen.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=A0QKAAAAIBAJ&pg=6527,976218&dq=larry+doby+1950+season&hl=en|date=January 23, 1951|newspaper=[[Ellensburg Daily Record]]|access-date=September 22, 2012|agency=Associated Press|title=Honor Doby as 1950 Cleveland Baseball Man}}</ref>

====1951–1955====
Doby hit 20 home runs and 69 RBIs in 1951, both fewer than the previous season, and his batting average improved to .295. His 21-game hit-streak was the second-longest for the Indians that season, behind [[Dale Mitchell (baseball)|Dale Mitchell's]] mark of 23 games in a row.<ref name="Borsvold">{{cite book|title=Cleveland Indians: The Cleveland Press Years, 1920–1982|last=Borsvold|first=David|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|location=Charleston, South Carolina|isbn=0-7385-2325-9|year=2003}}</ref>{{rp|p.61}} Indians general manager [[Hank Greenberg]] reduced Doby's salary due to the lower home run numbers despite Doby, who attributed the lower numbers to tightness in his legs, stating he would not accept a pay cut.<ref name="Greenberg">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|date=February 19, 1953|access-date=August 21, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2boDAAAAMBAJ|title=Larry Doby Refuses Cleveland Salary Offer}}</ref><ref name="Harrison">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|title=Dillard to Train Doby|access-date=August 20, 2012|date=November 8, 1951|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I0MDAAAAMBAJ}}</ref> Indians manager [[Al López]] confirmed that Doby was injury-riddled throughout the season, stating that he "was beset by first one injury and then another" including "a muscle tear in his thigh, a groin pull, an ankle twist."<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Washington Afro-American]]|date=April 1, 1952|access-date=August 24, 2012|last=Lacy|first=Sam|title=Tribe Will Move 'Up' – Al López|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JDsmAAAAIBAJ&pg=1851,4988139&dq=larry+doby+1951+season&hl=en}}</ref> Doby received blame for the Indians' failure to win the AL pennant and was labeled a "loner" by some in the press, including ''Plain Dealer'' sports editor [[Gordon Cobbledick]] who in an article in ''Sport'' wrote "Larry's a mixed-up guy—a badly mixed-up guy" stemming from "the emotional impact of discovering racial prejudice against him."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|date=January 31, 1952|access-date=August 21, 2012|title=Is Larry Doby a Bust? in Sport|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W48DAAAAMBAJ&q=1950+cleveland+indians+larry+doby&pg=PA32}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|date=June 4, 1953|access-date=August 21, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gEIDAAAAMBAJ&q=larry+doby+loner&pg=PA50|title=Book of the Week: Great Negro Baseball Stars}}</ref> Cobbledick also took issue with Doby's assertion that opposing pitchers were knocking him down due to Doby being black. The assertion was confirmed by [[Sam Lacy]], who wrote in the ''[[Baltimore Afro-American]]'', "Statistics show that eight colored players in the two major leagues were hit by pitches a total of 68 times during the 1951 campaign, an average of {{frac|8|1|2}} times per man. No other player was hit as many as eight times in the season."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wcYlAAAAIBAJ&pg=916,4396692&dq=larry+doby+1951+season&hl=en|date=February 5, 1952|access-date=August 24, 2012|newspaper=[[Baltimore Afro-American]]|title=From A to Z with Sam Lacy|last=Lacy|first=Sam}}</ref>

One month before spring training for the 1952 season, Doby employed former [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] track and field athlete [[Harrison Dillard]] to come to his home in New Jersey to prepare his legs in hopes of eliminating injuries, which had affected him the previous season.<ref name="Harrison" /> Dillard and the Indians' team doctor prescribed lower-body warm-ups to Doby before the start of each game.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rYMtAAAAIBAJ&pg=4903,7745470&dq=larry+doby+1950+season&hl=en|title=Dillard to help Larry Doby train|newspaper=[[Montreal Gazette]]|date=October 19, 1951|access-date=August 24, 2012|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Leg injuries continued to bother Doby during the start of the season.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QtlXAAAAIBAJ&pg=7119,444659&dq=larry+doby+1950+season&hl=en|date=October 16, 1952|newspaper=[[Spokane Daily Chronicle]]|access-date=August 23, 2012|agency=Associated Press|title=Stan Musial, Larry Doby Win 1952 Major Loop Slugging Championships}}</ref> On June 4, 1952, he [[hit for the cycle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1952/B06040BOS1952.htm|title=Boston Red Sox 13, Cleveland Indians 11|date=June 4, 1952|publisher=Retrosheet.org|access-date=September 10, 2011}}</ref> By the end of the 1952 season, Doby was second in the AL in RBIs to teammate [[Al Rosen]] by one, 105 to 104. His .541 [[slugging percentage]], runs scored (104), strikeout (111), and home run (32) totals were all highest in the AL.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HZBhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3511,682105&dq=larry+doby+1951+season&hl=en|newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|last=Olan|first=Ben|date=October 17, 1952|access-date=August 23, 2012|title=Sauer, Mantle Are Runners-Up}}</ref>

Leading up to the 1953 season, Doby asked Greenberg and Indians management for a pay raise after earning $22,000 the previous season. In early March, the raise was granted, and he was slated to make $28,000 that year.<ref>{{cite news|title=Avila is Lone Major Holdout|work=[[The Plain Dealer]]|date=March 10, 1953}}</ref> For 1953, Doby had a .263 batting average, which was his lowest since joining the league in 1947. He led the AL in strikeouts for the second and final time in his career, a career-high 121 times, but hit 29 home runs and 102 RBIs on the year. He also had 96 [[base on balls|walks]], which was third in the AL.<ref>{{cite web|title=1953 American League Batting Leaders|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1953-batting-leaders.shtml}}</ref>

For the sixth time in his major league career, Doby was named an [[1954 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] during the 1954 season, one of five Indians named. The game was held at Cleveland's [[Municipal Stadium (Cleveland)|Municipal Stadium]] and featured the second-largest crowd to watch an All-Star Game (the largest was in 1935 at the same stadium).<ref name="Classic" />{{rp|p.131}} In what would prove his final career All-Star at bat, Doby hit a [[pinch hitter|pinch-hit]] solo home run in the eighth inning to tie the game at 9–9; the AL squad went on to win, 11–9.<ref name="Classic" />{{rp|p.131}}<ref name="Midsummer">{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/mlb_asgrecaps_story_headline.jsp?story_page=recap_1954|title=All-Star Results – 1954|work=[[Major League Baseball|MLB.com]]|access-date=August 18, 2012}}</ref> His home run was the first hit by a black player in an All-Star Game.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19970705&id=0QIzAAAAIBAJ&pg=5164,940811|date=July 5, 1997|access-date=August 13, 2012|newspaper=[[The Free Lance-Star]]|location=Fredericksburg, Virginia|last=Berger|first=Ken|agency=Associated Press|title=Baseball's forgotten pioneer}}</ref> The game, which had a record 17 hits by the AL and was the highest-scoring All-Star Game until [[1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1998]], was called the best ever by All-Star Game founder [[Arch Ward]].<ref name="Classic" />{{rp|p.131}}<ref name="Midsummer" /> As the regular season resumed, Doby helped the Indians to win a franchise-record 111 games and the AL [[Pennant (sports)|pennant]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CLE/|title=Cleveland Indians Team History and Encyclopedia|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/|title=American League Team Win Totals|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]}}</ref> His regular season 32 home runs and career-high 126 RBIs were highest in the AL, which led to him finishing second in AL MVP voting.<ref>{{cite web|title=Baseball Awards Voting for 1954|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1954.shtml#ALmvp|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]}}</ref> The Indians were swept in the [[1954 World Series]] by Doby's former Eagles teammate Monte Irvin and the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]].<ref name="Lew">{{cite book|title=African American Pioneers of Baseball: A Biographical Encyclopedia|author=Freedman, Lew |year=2007|isbn=978-0-313-33851-9|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Connecticut |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iIWWgB0G0YUC}}</ref>{{rp|p.146}}

In his last full season with the Indians in 1955, Doby was selected for his seventh consecutive and final [[1955 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]]. Doby's leg injuries affected him severely at this point in his career and he did not enter the game.<ref name="Finkelman">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of African American History: 1896 to the Present|title=From the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-First Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gbQHxb_P0QC&pg=RA1-PA84|editor=Paul Finkelman|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-516779-5|page=84}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/mlb_asgrecaps_story_headline.jsp?story_page=recap_1955|title=All-Star Game Results – 1955|access-date=August 18, 2012|work=[[Major League Baseball|MLB.com]]}}</ref> He finished the 1955 season with 26 home runs and 75 RBIs while hitting .291 in 131 games, his fewest played since 1948. Not all in Cleveland were disappointed to see Doby leaving. Wrote one ''Plain Dealer'' columnist, Franklin Lewis: "He has been a controversial athlete. Highly gifted, he was frequently morose, sullen, and upon occasion, downright surly to his teammates&nbsp;... He thought of himself, at the beginning, as the symbol of the Negro in his league."<ref name="Man" />{{rp|p.68}} Doby responded, "I was looked on as a Black man, not as a human being. I did feel a responsibility to the Black players who came after me, but that was a responsibility, basically, to people, not just to Black people."<ref name="Man" />{{rp|p.68}}