Larry Doby
Hall of Famers at War
| Date and Place of Birth: | December 13, 1924 Camden, SC |
| Date and Place of Death: | June 18, 2003 Montclair, NJ |
| Baseball Experience: | Hall of Fame |
| Position: | Outfield |
| Rank: | Seaman |
| Military Unit: | US Navy |
| Area Served: | Pacific Theater of Operations |
Lawrence E. "Larry" Doby was born in Camden, South Carolina on December
13, 1924. His family moved to New Jersey and Doby lettered in baseball,
basketball, football and track at East Side High School in Patterson.
He then attended Long Island University.
In 1942, at the age of 17, Doby won the Negro National League batting
title with a .427 average. It was his first year in professional
baseball as a second baseman with the Newark Eagles.
Doby hit .325 with the Eagles in 1943 and entered military service at
the end of the season. He served with the Navy at Great Lakes Naval
Training Station in Illinois, where he played with the Negro baseball
team. Seaman Doby was also stationed at Camp Sam Roberts, Treasure
Island and Naval Training Center San Diego before reaching Ulithi Atoll
in the Pacific.
Doby was back with the Eagles in 1946, batting .360, helping the team to
the Negro League World Series title, and attracting interest from major
league scouts. Doby began 1947 with the Eagles but signed with the
Cleveland Indians on July 2, 1947, the first African-American to play in
the American League. That same year he also signed with the Patterson
Panthers of the American Basketball League as the first African-American
in that league.
Doby played 29 games and batted .156 with the Indians in 1947, but
became a regular the following year, batting .301 in 121 games and
playing a key role in the 1948 World Series against the Boston Braves.
Larry Doby remained in the major leagues until 1959 and played over 1500
games. In 1962,
Doby and Don Newcombe became the first former major leaguers to play for
a professional Japanese team when they joined the Chunichi Dragons. He
later became only the second African-American manager in the American
League when he took over the White Sox in 1978.
During the 1980s Doby served as director of community relations with the
New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association. He was elected
to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
Larry Doby passed away in Montclair, New Jersey on June 18, 2003, aged
79.
Date Added June 8, 2020
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