Larry Doby

CTL-E-6854 · Person · other · 1923–2003

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07726 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6854.

Lawrence Eugene 'Larry' Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003) was the first Black player in the American League and the second Black player in the modern major leagues, eleven weeks behind Jackie Robinson. Encyclopaedia Britannica, named here as a source, states the first plainly: Doby was the second African American player in the major leagues and the first in the American League when he joined the Cleveland Indians in 1947. The National Baseball Hall of Fame dates the debut to July 5, 1947, and calls Doby the first African-American player to participate in an American League game. Britannica records that Doby came from the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League, around Navy service in World War II, and that in 1948 he starred as Cleveland's center fielder, batting .301, and hit a home run that won a World Series game. The Hall of Fame counts seven straight All-Star selections beginning in 1949. Britannica adds the Chicago chapter: Doby later played for the Chicago White Sox and, in 1978, Veeck made him the White Sox manager — the second African American major-league manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.

The record

• Also known as: Lawrence Eugene Doby

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0255. Firsts disposition: 'First Black player in the American League' ASSERTED — supported by Encyclopaedia Britannica and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Doby integrated a league eleven weeks after Robinson with a fraction of the coverage, then out-produced the slight for a decade and returned to Chicago as its manager in 1978 — the White Sox chapters at both ends of his career make him a Chicago record as much as a Cleveland one. Photo: CLEARED — Larry Doby 1953.jpg, Public domain.

Relationships

• Chicago White Sox — played for
  Larry Doby played for the Chicago White Sox during his 13-year major-league career (1947–59) — per Encyclopaedia Britannica.
• Chicago White Sox — head coach of
  Larry Doby became the Chicago White Sox manager in 1978, the second African American major-league manager — per Encyclopaedia Britannica and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Manager is carried as head_coach_of under the schema.

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Larry Doby." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed 2026-11-03. https://www.Britannica.com/print/article/167309 (primary source · build store)
• National Baseball Hall of Fame. "Doby's pioneering path earned Hall of Fame plaque." Baseball Hall of Fame. Accessed 2026-11-03. https://baseballhall.org/discover/inside-pitch/dobys-pioneering-path-earned-hall-of-fame-plaque (primary source · build store)

More person records

• Lee Moriarty
• Lee P. Brown
• Lee Sandlin
• Lee Smith
• Leela James
• Leilani Jones

Browse the full directory: all entity records

Record CTL-E-6854 · Combined Graph record U-07726 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 2 sources · 2 mapped relationships.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

Cite this record

Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.

From the Archive

The archive in pictures

The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.