WASHINGTON — More than 70 years after he became the first Black player in American League history, Cleveland Indians legend Larry Doby received the nation's highest civilian honor.
Doby was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal Wednesday in Washington on what would have been his 100th birthday. His son, Larry Jr., accepted the medal on his father's behalf from Speaker Mike Johnson and other dignitaries from the U.S. House and Senate.
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"If Jackie Robinson broke down the color barrier, then Larry Doby cleared the wreckage," Johnson told those assembled for a ceremony at the Capitol. "And in doing so, he charted a path for Black athletes. You can draw a direct line to today."
It was April 15, 1947, when Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League, thereby breaking Major League Baseball's color line that had been in place for six decades. But interleague play did not exist back then, and therefore it was not until July 5 of that same year that Doby integrated the AL (and its eight stadiums) by first suiting up for the Tribe.
Unlike Robinson, Doby's milestone came without much preparation or fanfare, the latter of which sadly continued even long after the latter's playing days ended. Indeed, while Robinson's achievement is marked each year by all players wearing his famous uniform number, MLB has thus far barred even Cleveland from doing the same on July 5 with Doby's No. 14.
"The man we honored today knew as well as anyone that no impressive performance at the plate could make unequal treatment in baseball disappear overnight," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) noted. "With a great deal less fanfare than No. 42, Larry Doby endured the same discrimination that characterized the dark, segregated era America was slowly leaving behind."
Yet despite the obviously trials and tribulations, Doby soon became an outstanding ballplayer in his own right, and in 1948 helped lead the Indians to what remains the franchise's last World Series championship. He would go on to play 10 seasons in Cleveland and 17 overall (including parts of four with the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League), becoming a nine-time All-Star and twice leading the AL in homers while belting 273 for his career.
Doby was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998, five years prior to his death at the age of 79. In 2015, the Cleveland franchise honored his memory by erecting a bronze statue in his likeness outside Progressive Field.
"When we talk about integrating baseball, we hear about Jackie Robinson, and too often, the story stops there. We neglect the men who came soon after," Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who had long spearheaded the effort to give Doby the Congressional Gold Medal, said in a statement. "Larry Doby is a key part of this story — a WWII veteran, the first Black player in the American league, the second Black manager in the majors, a civil rights pioneer. His bravery and determination changed baseball."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.