Larry Doby Breaks the American League Color Line
Eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson, a 23-year-old walks out of the Newark Eagles' lineup and into history.
The Second First (1947)
Everyone remembers April 15. Fewer remember July 5 — the day Larry Doby walked out of the Newark Eagles' lineup and into Comiskey Park wearing a Cleveland uniform, the first Black player in the American League, just eleven weeks behind Jackie Robinson. No minor-league runway, no spring training to settle in. Signed on a Thursday, in the game on a Saturday, striking out as a pinch hitter in his only at-bat while half his new teammates wouldn't shake his hand. Doby answered the only way available to him: he became a seven-time All-Star, won a World Series in 1948, and made the Hall of Fame. Robinson kicked the door open. Doby proved it would stay open.
