SECOND, BUT NO LESS

Friends, family pay last respects to Doby (Steve Strunsky, June 24, 2003, Associated Press)

Friends, family and fellow Hall of Famers gathered Monday to remember Larry Doby, 56 years after he became the American League's first black player.

Doby died last Wednesday at his home in Montclair after a long illness. He broke the AL's color barrier when he joined the Cleveland Indians on July 5, 1947, 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League.

Doby, who played 13 seasons in the major leagues and was selected for seven All-Star games, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.

During an afternoon memorial service at the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Montclair, Doby was remembered as a man of quiet dignity who never said an unkind word, even about those hostile to his joining the Indians. [...]

Lawrence Eugene Doby Sr. was born Dec. 13, 1923, in Camden, S.C., but he grew up in Paterson, N.J., then moved to Montclair 40 years ago, and has been adopted by New Jersey officials and institutions as one of their own.

According to Harvey Frommer's fine book, Rickey and Robinson, Branch Rickey had an opportunity to sign Larry Doby too, but wanted other teams to integrate so passed him up. He was an important pioneer in his own right and by all accounts a terrifically decent man. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 27, 2003 12:18 PM