Today marks the 75th anniversary of Larry Doby‘s MLB debut with the Cleveland Guardians, previously known as the Cleveland Indians.
Doby was the second player to break the color barrier when he made his debut, becoming the first African-American player in American League history.
Doby had a career average of .288 and a total of 273 home runs with a 56.5 WAR.
He was a nine-time All-Star and also is a Hall of Famer.
But one local analyst believes that baseball doesn’t do enough to celebrate Doby, and on Twitter, he called for there to be a little more fanfare on the anniversary of his MLB debut.
On the anniversary of Larry Doby’s #MLB debut, the league has Cleveland playing on the road in Detroit. They should be in Cleveland with EVERY team in baseball (or the very least, American League) wearing #14. Sad.
— Mike Bormann (@Chico923TheFan) July 5, 2022
More Praise For Doby
Doby is certainly worthy of some more praise on behalf of Major League Baseball.
He may not have been the first player in baseball history to break the color barrier, but he wasn’t too far behind Jackie Robinson, and was the first player in American League history to do so.
One would certainly think that Doby deserves a little more praise.
Like Robinson, Doby’s road to the big leagues was not easy, especially in a time where the idea of African-Americans playing professional sports was frowned upon and condemned.
Doby certainly earned a ton of respect for his role in breaking down the color barrier.
So, in that case, you would think that they’d give Doby a little more recognition for everything he did for baseball and the Black community.
It would have been nice too if the Guardians were playing at home and wearing No. 14 to honor him, along with every other team in baseball, or at least the American League.
Maybe someday, MLB will realize that Doby deserves much more recognition than what he’s gotten.
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