July 5, 1947: Larry Doby Becomes the 1st Black American Leaguer

July 5, 1947: The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. In the bottom of the 7th inning, Larry Doby pinch-hits for Cleveland pitcher Bryan Stephens, against pitcher Earl Harrist. He strikes out. Nevertheless, it makes him the 2nd black player in the modern era of Major League Baseball, and the 1st black player in the American League.

Born on December 13, 1923 in Cmaden, South Carolina, and raised in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey, Doby played in the Negro Leagues, with the Newark Eagles, from 1942 to 1947, helping them win a Pennant in 1946. In 1948, he would become the 1st black player to hit a home run in a World Series game, helping the Indians win the World Series. He helped them win another Pennant in 1954, remained in the major leagues until 1959, and last played in Japan in 1962.

He made 7 All-Star Games, led the AL in home runs in 1952, and led it in both homers and RBIs in 1954. His lifetime batting average was .287, and he hit 273 home runs, a pretty good total for a player with his length of service while playing most of his home games at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

In 1978, the White Sox would hire Doby as the 2nd black manager in MLB. The Indians (now the Cleveland Guardians) would go on to retire Doby's Number 14, and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He lived until 2003.

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July 5, 1947 was a Saturday. These other baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-1 at Yankee Stadium. Rookie Frank "Spec" Shea went the distance, Joe DiMaggio went 2-for-4, and rookie Yogi Berra went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Johnny Mize hits 2 home runs, to support a 6-hit shutout by Clint Hartung.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Boston Braves, 4-1 at Ebbets Field. Jackie Robinson went 2-for-4.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 7-6 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ted Williams went 2-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Hank Greenberg went 1-for-3 with a walk. So did Ralph Kiner, but his hit was a 2-run home run.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-5 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Stan Musial went 0-for-3, although he did draw a walk.

* And the Detroit Tigers were supposed to play the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park, but were rained out. It was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on August 31. The Tigers swept, 11-2 and 10-1.