[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15470]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO LARRY DOBY

  (Mr. PASCRELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I have some sad news this morning. A great 
American passed last evening. Larry Doby, 79 years of age, broke the 
color barrier in the American League and became a Hall of Famer, but he 
was a Hall of Famer in his life.
  He said when inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998, ``Kids are our 
future, and we hope baseball has given them some idea of what it is to 
live together and how we can get along, whether you be black or 
white.''
  He was a great American. He lost his wife, Helyn, just 2 years ago. 
Larry lived a very productive life in my hometown of Paterson, New 
Jersey, and lived in Montclair, which is part of my district as well.
  Mr. Speaker, if I can read from the resolution, a tribute to him back 
in 1997, which was entered into the Congressional Record, ``Despite his 
great accomplishments, Larry Doby has remained modest and endearing and 
a true gentleman. Mr. Doby always gives thanks to God for giving him 
the talent to help integrate baseball and American society and to Mr. 
Veck for giving him the opportunity to use that talent and to his wife 
Helyn for holding together their family while he was away.''
  I ask that my colleagues join in a resolution which I will be 
introducing. We have lost a good American.

                    [From the Record, June 19, 2003]

                    Larry Doby, Hall of Famer, Dies

       Hall of Famer Larry Doby, who grew up in Paterson and 
     became the first black player in the American League, died 
     Wednesday night after a long illness at his home in 
     Montclair, his son, Larry Doby Jr. said. Doby was 79.
       Doby was a seven-time All-Star in a 13-year career, almost 
     all of it spent in the outfield for the Cleveland Indians. He 
     helped lead the Indians to their last World Series title in 
     1948.
       On July 5, 1947--just 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson broke 
     baseball's color barrier--Doby joined the Indians.
       Although he hit .283 with 253 home runs and 969 RBI in a 
     big-league career that lasted through 1959, his locker room 
     reception that first day was chilly. Some teammates would not 
     even shake his hand.
       ``Very tough'', Doby once recalled. ``I'd never faced any 
     circumstances like that. Teammates were lined up and some 
     would greet you and some wouldn't. You could deal with it, 
     but it was hard.''
       Doby ended his major league career in 1959 with the Detroit 
     Tigers and Chicago White Sox. In 1978, he took over as 
     manager of the White Sox, becoming only the second black to 
     manage a major league team (following Frank Robinson).
       Although Doby was voted into the Hall of Fame by the 
     veterans committee in 1998, he always had commanded respect 
     throughout the community.
       He was a standout athlete at Eastside High School and 
     starred with the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues for four 
     seasons. Doby never forgot his roots and always gave his time 
     to others. In the late 70's he was named director of 
     community relations of the NBA's Nets and got involved in a 
     number of inner-city youth programs.
       Last year, then Paterson Mayor Marty Barnes unveiled a 
     lifesize bronze statue of Doby at a rededication of Larry 
     Doby Field at Eastside Park.
       ``You have done more for Paterson . . . than Paterson has 
     done for you,'' Barnes said at the time. ``What we are hoping 
     is that we could try to catch up and give you all the 
     accolade that you deserve.''
       Earlier this year, the Yogi Berra Museum announced it would 
     be constructing a Larry Doby wing to house an exhibit of 
     Negro League memorabilia.
       ``Larry Doby could do everything--hit, run, field and 
     throw,'' Berra said.
       Doby and his wife, Helyn, had five children. She died of 
     cancer in 2001.
       ``Larry and I were very good friends,'' Indians' teammate 
     Bob Feller said Wednesday.
       ``He was a great guy, a great center fielder and a great 
     teammate. He helped us win the pennant in 1948 and three 
     World Series. My thoughts go out to his family,'' he said.
       Feller remembered some of the difficulties Doby faced when 
     he entered the league.
       ``It was tough on him,'' Feller said. ``Larry was very 
     sensitive more so than [Jackie] Robinson or Satchel Paige or 
     Luke Easter or some of the other players who came over from 
     the Negro Leagues. He was completely different from Jackie as 
     a player. He was aggressive, but not like Jackie was.''
       While Robinson's ascension to the majors was widely 
     recognized, Doby received relatively scant attention.
       In his first decade with the Indians, Doby was kept apart 
     from his teammates--eating in separate restaurants, sleeping 
     in separate hotels--even during spring training. From players 
     and fans, he was the frequent target of racial taunts.
       Despite provocation, Doby kept his temper, heeding Bill 
     Veeck's advice when the Indians' owner bought Doby's contract 
     from Newark.
       Doby was a 22-year-old second baseman when the Indians 
     signed him. Two seasons later, as the team's starting center 
     fielder, he helped Cleveland win the World Series, hitting a 
     home run in Game 4.
       Doby played in six straight All-Star Games. In 1949, he, 
     Robinson, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe became baseball's 
     first black All-Stars.
       In 1943, Doby recorded another first--he became the first 
     black to play in the American Basketball League, a forerunner 
     of the NBA, as a member of the Paterson Panthers.

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