Larry Doby, the second Black player to break the MLB’s color barrier, was posthumously honored by Congress on what would have been his 100th birthday. Doby received the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday at the National Statuary Hall in Washington D.C.
Doby followed Jackie Robinson as he integrated from the Negro Leagues to the American League with Cleveland in 1947. The next season, Doby helped lead the team to a World Series in 1948, the last championship won by the franchise.
Doby’s son, Larry Doby Jr., accepted the award on his father’s behalf and spoke briefly about what the honor would have meant to him.
“This means the world to my family,” Doby Jr. said. “He would be extremely proud and humbled by this.”
Dobt, also a World War II veteran, spent 13 seasons in the MLB. He finished with a .283 batting average, 253 home runs and 970 RBI. More importantly, Doby served as a trailblazer and helped make it possible for more people of color to live out their dreams in the U.S.
“Larry Doby will forever be remembered as a pioneer who demonstrated great character and courage throughout his life,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “His legacy as a trailblazing player and manager endures to this day, and he will always remain one of the great heroes that our national pastime and nation have ever known.”
Doby passed away in 2003, but five years before his death, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of the 1998 class.
