[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 47 (Friday, April 24, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S3583]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         ELECTION OF LARRY DOBY INTO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME

  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to what I 
believe is a truly excellent decision by the baseball Hall of Fame's 
Veterans Committee. On the 3rd of March, one of the true greats of 
baseball history, Larry Doby, was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame. 
I think we all know the story, at least the outline of the story. On 
July 5, 1947, Larry Doby became the first African American to play in 
the American League--just 3 months after Jackie Robinson had broken 
baseball's color barrier in the other league, the National League.
  The legendary Bill Veeck was at that time, of course, the owner and 
had control of the Cleveland Indians. Veeck saw that Larry Doby was 
leading the Negro National League with a .458 batting average and had 
at that time 13 home runs. He and Doby, Veeck and Doby, made the 
historic and courageous decision to break the color barrier in the 
American League.
  It is sometimes difficult for us to remember what the situation was 
back in 1947 or to really truly understand it. The Jackie Robinson 
decision was still highly controversial. It was really at this point by 
no means self-evident that support for integrated baseball would take 
hold. Larry Doby and Bill Veeck made an act of faith in America's 
future and in the American people.
  In his autobiography, Bill Veeck wrote that he ``received 20,000 
letters, most of them in violent, sometimes obscene protest.'' But then 
he went on to say, ``When Doby hit a tremendous home run to put us 
ahead in the fourth game of the Series, it could be observed that none 
of the people who were on their feet cheering seemed at all concerned 
or even conscious of Larry Doby's color.''
  Mr. President, it took courage for Larry Doby to get up to the plate, 
but once he got there his record of accomplishment silenced his 
critics. In 1948, his first full season, he led the Indians to victory 
in the World Series batting .318 and hitting a game-winning home run. 
He was named to the All-Star Team every single year from 1949 to 1955. 
In 1952, he led the American League in home runs and runs scored. Two 
years later, in 1954, he led the league in home runs and RBIs.
  He left the Indians in 1956 to play for the Chicago White Sox, and 
later the Detroit Tigers. He retired in 1959, but returned to baseball 
in 1978 to manage the White Sox--becoming only the second African-
American manager in the history of the major leagues. The first, I 
might add, was the great Frank Robinson--who managed the Indians from 
1975 to 1977, and who played as a player, of course, for the Cincinnati 
Reds and then for the Baltimore Orioles.
  Mr. President, I join all Ohioans--and indeed all lovers of baseball 
nationwide--in congratulating Larry Doby on this well-deserved 
recognition of a truly outstanding career.
  (Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire assumed the Chair.)

                          ____________________