Who's Larry Doby?

Many people have heard about Jackie Robinson and how he broke the color barrier in baseball. But do people know who broke the color barrier in the American League?

That man would be Larry Doby, who was born on December 13, 1923 in Camden, South Carolina. Three months after Robinson debuted with the Dodgers in 1947, Doby signed a deal with Bill Veeck's Cleveland Indians. Doby was the first MLB player to come directly from the Negro Leagues and was the first African-American MLB player along with Satchel Paige to win the World Series (Cleveland won the title in 1948).

Doby was also a seven-time All Star center fielder and was the AL's home run and RBI leader in 1954. Doby also played for the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Chunichi Dragons before retiring as a player in 1962. Doby was selected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 with a batting average of .283, 253 home runs, and 970 RBIs.

Doby had his No. 14 retired by the Cleveland Indians and is in the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. Doby even served as manager of the White Sox, where he had a record of 37-50 in 1978. Doby was only the second African-American manager in baseball history.

Photo courtesy of sabr.org