Larry Doby died tonight

[YASNY]

I always felt like Doby got screwed in the P.R. Dept.  Robinson got much more adulation over the years, and I don't want to take anything away from him.  Doby had just as tough a road to hoe, and he didn't have Pee Wee Reese next to him.  Plus, Doby might have been a better player, for whatever that is worth.

 

I remember a few things about his playing career with the Sox, which was after his prime years.  He could really play, and he had all the tools.  Fundamentally as sound as anyone.  Sox fans booed him a bit much, but it was not because of race.  The whole town loved Minoso, remember.  But Larry had an arrogant way about him that did not translate well to the fans, especially when he was in a slump.  But I remember that BIG FIGHT mentioned earlier.  I also remember a homer he hit that was one of the longest in Comiskey Park history.  Way up in the upper deck in right center --  a little more to the left and it would have way over the old bullpen, a little higher and it would have been out.  I never saw anyone else hit one there.

 

I remember feeling badly that we didn't keep him around for the pennant year of 1959.  I also never understood why some team didn't hire him as a hitting coach in the 80's or 90's -- unless I missed it.

I read something about Doby not being around for the '59 Series. Veeck sent to the minors on a rehab assignment, was going to call him back up before the Sept. 1st deadline. While playing in the minors, Doby broke his ankle sliding into third after legging out a triple. That ended his season and is why he was not on the Series roster.

 

Also, I think Veeck hired him as the Sox hitting coach, before he took over a manager. I'm thinking he was our hitting coach for the 77' Southside Hit Men. Good point though, with the kind of success with a team that was supposed to do nothing, it seems he would have had several more chances to be a hitting coach.

[Jim Fainter]

There probably are Larry Doby columns all over the country. A really good one today (Friday) is in the Denver Post by Woody Paige. I don't have the link handy, because I get the paper delivered. Go to www.denverpost.com then click on sports, then columnists, then Paige.

[Jim Fainter]

TO: CWSOX. When I referred to FDR, I was not trying to pit Republicans vs Democrats. Furthest thing from my mind. And the theory that Hoover and Harding were as equally culpable as FDR does not hold water. Frankly, I don't know when the old Negro League even came into existence. But I mentioned FDR for a couple of reasons. One, he was President during my lifetime, so I can relate to him a lot better than Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge, Harding, etc. Secondly, he was the last elected president prior to the breaking of the Color Line. Plus, he was in office for such a long, long time. He had by far the greater opportunity to address a national disgrace that was getting worse by the year. FDR was smarter than most of his predecessors, and he should have known better. And if HST had anything to do with breaking the Color Line, and I would not be the least surprised, then I salute him, although most of the credit has gone to Rickey, Veeck, and Chandler.

 

I meant to respond earlier, but I had trouble getting on the board, and I forgot. And I did not mean to strike a political nerve. You are correct when you said that if FDR had intervened, he would have been criticised. He could have handled it. Any implied criticism that I made of FDR in this thread originated with my belief that all of us would have been better off had he forcefully addressed the situation as President, and it has nothing to do with the many other issues he successfully faced while in office.

[SI1020]

HST integrated the armed forces with a stroke of the pen in 47 or 48 I believe. This led to the Dixiecrat wing of the Democratic party abandoning him in favor of Strom Thurmond in the 1948 presidential election. Speaking of 1948, there's a famous picture of Larry Doby and teammate Steve Gromek happily embracing after Doby hit a homer in game 4 of the 48 WS to ensure a 2-1 victory for pitcher Gromek and the Indians over the Boston Braves. Years later Doby was quoted " I will always cherish that photograph and the memory of Gromek hugging me and me hugging him, because it proved that emotions can be put into a form not based on skin color." My local newspaper the State ( Columbia South Carolinas daily ) is filled with stories on Doby today. If you want to check it out

[Texsox]

In case you haven't read Bill Veecks HoF plaque.

 

 

BILL VEECK

OWNER OF INDIANS, BROWNS AND WHITE SOX.

CREATED HEIGHTENED FAN INTEREST AT EVERY STOP

WITH INGENIOUS PROMOTIONAL SCHEMES, FAN

PARTICIPATION, EXPLODING SCOREBOARD, OUTRAGEOUS

DOOR PRIZES, NAMES ON UNIFORMS. SET M.L.

ATTENDANCE RECORD WITH PENNANT-WINNER AT

CLEVELAND IN 1948; WON AGAIN WITH 'GO-GO'

SOX IN 1959. SIGNED A.L.'S FIRST BLACK PLAYER,

LARRY DOBY IN 1947 AND OLDEST ROOKIE, 42 YEAR

OLD SATCHEL PAIGE IN 1948.

A CHAMPION OF THE LITTLE GUY.