When people think of baseball trailblazers, their minds immediately
go to Jackie Robinson. He was the man who broke the color barrier,
appearing in 1945 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and would go on to a
Hall of Fame career. His number 42 is retired throughout baseball,
and every year MLB holds "Jackie Robinson Day" across the league.
But he was far from the only trailblazer. Two years later, in 1947,
a twenty-three-year-old Larry Doby appeared in a game for the
Cleveland Indians. He is essentially known as the second African
American to break the color barrier, and was the first to appear in
the American League (as the Dodgers are in the National League).
While Robinson is always the one to be spoken about, Doby was just
as good in the field and at the plate. In fact, he was a 9x
All-Star, a two-time World Series champion (being the first African
American, along with teammate Satchel Paige, to win a World
Series), home run and batting champ, and was inducted into the
National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 after an incredible 13-year
MLB career. He is, and will always be, one of the greatest players
in baseball history. Beginning his professional baseball career at
the tender age of eighteen, he would play five years for the Newark
Eagles of the Negro Leagues. In between, he spent two years out of
baseball, defending his country in World War II as a member of the
US Navy. While Robinson had instant success with the Dodgers, Doby
struggled off the bat. Having to endure immense racism (from fans,
other ballplayers, and even teammates), disrespect, and threats on
his life (and that of his family), it did not take until the
following year, 1948, before he truly emerged as one of the best
players in the game. Written by esteemed author Jerry Izenberg--who
saw Doby play with the Eagles as a youngster and would build a
lifelong friendship with the ballplayer--Larry Doby is the real,
raw story of perseverance and determination in the face of immense
hatred. Including in-depth research, to go along with personal
accounts and numerous one-on-one interviews, Izenberg delivers an
incredible tale that gives Doby his due as one of the all-time
greats, while also sharing the struggles, trials, and tribulations
of being a black man in a white country. With Major League Baseball
finally incorporating the records and stats of those in the Negro
Leagues, Doby's story is one that is long-overdo, shedding light on
what it was like playing baseball and being black in the 1940s and
'50s, and how hard work and determination was key to rising above
all the hate and becoming one of the greatest to ever play the game
General
Imprint: |
Sports Publishing LLC
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
March 2024 |
Authors: |
Jerry Izenberg
|
Dimensions: |
228 x 152mm (L x W) |
Pages: |
256 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-68358-480-3 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-68358-480-5 |
Barcode: |
9781683584803 |
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