OPINION: Doby's biggest fan would have been proud
Apr. 20—Last Friday was a big day for Cleveland baseball fans.
It was the home opener. It was the first time the team took the home field as Guardians. And it was Jackie Robinson Day.
Everybody in the entire league wore No. 42 Friday in honor of Robinson, the first Black player in the Major Leagues.
Jackie Robinson Day is a traditional event which occurs annually on April 15 in Major League Baseball, commemorating and honoring the day Jackie Robinson made his major league debut. Celebrated at MLB ballparks, on that one day, all players, coaches, and managers on both teams, and the umpires, wear Robinson's uniform number, 42. April 15 was Opening Day in 1947, Robinson's first season in the major leagues.
Initiated for the first time on April 15, 2004, the festivity is a result of Robinson's memorable career, best known for becoming the first black major league baseball player of the modern era in 1947. His debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers (today's Los Angeles Dodgers) ended about 80 years of baseball segregation, also known as the baseball color line, or color barrier. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
But when you talk about Robinson in Cleveland, you have to mention Larry Doby, the second Black to play in the Majors and the first in the American League.
In July 1947 — three months after Jackie Robinson made history with the Brooklyn Dodgers — Doby broke the MLB 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 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. He helped the Indians win a Major League Baseball record 111 games and the AL pennant in 1954, finished second in the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) award voting and was the AL's 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 in the majors with the Chicago White Sox, and in 1995 was appointed to a position in the AL's executive office.
I say all of this because of this story I heard many times growing up.
My mother died recently and I came across this newspaper article. I thought it was appropriate at this time of the year.
This article appeared in the "Hal Asks" column in the Sunday Plain Dealer. The paper was dated Aug. 20, 1978 and my mom sent this letter to Hal.
"On Aug. 2, 1950, Larry Doby hit three home runs in one game. My late father, George Masky, Cleveland's most ardent fan, said it was the best present he could have received for his 51st birthday. His second-best thrill would have been to have heard the announcement that Larry Doby was named manager of the Chicago White Sox by owner Bill Veeck, his old boss from the Cleveland Indians.
"My dad thought nothing of jumping on a bus to Detroit to watch the Indians play. In 1949, we were vacationing in New York City and he came home two days early to watch a home game.
"Four years ago, while he and my mother were vacationing in Cocoa Beach, Fla., he suffered a stroke and was rushed to the hospital. He had two tickets in his pocket to a spring exhibition game in Lakeland that afternoon. I flew down to be with him.
"In his dazed condition he relived the games he had seen. His Black male nurse was surprised when my father called him 'Doby' and asked him what his batting average was. We explained to him about Dad's hero, Larry Doby. Every day after that the young man would come in and chat with my dad about baseball.
"I wish he had lived to see Larry Doby become the second Black manager in Major League Baseball. There is one loyal Doby fan missing."
Larry Doby Jr. — Larry Doby's son — participated in Friday's first pitch by catching actor Tom Hanks' ball behind home plate.
The team's name may have changed, but the history and the great stories of the past remain.
I remember going to the old Municipal Stadium with my grandpa to watch the Indians play. It was us and about 3,000 or 4,000 other fans inside that massive 80,000 seat stadium.
I grew up in Detroit, but spent many summers with my grandma and grandpa in Cleveland and went to a lot of games.
The team's name may have changed, but the memories with my grandpa will last forever.
Joe Centers is Reflector managing editor. He can be reached at jcenters@norwalkreflector.com.
