Jeffrey Heber Cluff, Department of History
0n July 5, 194 7, a young, left-handed batter stepped to the plate at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Runners were on first and third with one out in the top of the seventh inning. The Cleveland Indians trailed the Chicago White Sox 5-l as the 22-year-old from Patterson, New Jersey settled into the batter’s box. Five pitches and a strikeout later he strode back to the dugout to a loud round of applause.
The applause was not for the strikeout but rather for the color of the player’s skin. With that strikeout, Larry Do by became the first black player in the American League’s 47 year history.
The importance of those five pitches was not the outcome of that at-bat or even the outcome of that game. The consequences of that strikeout reached far beyond the confines of the stadium. The true significance of that moment was the process of racial integration that began in baseball and continued in American society.
Since the founding of the United States over 200 years ago, we have settled a continent, preserved the Union, become an international military, economic and political power, developed the telephone, television and other technological wonders, performed open heart and brain surgeries and placed men on the moon. A list of similar achievements could fill volumes. While the magnitude of these accomplishments is certainly Impressive, perhaps our most significant accomplishment as a nation has been that of racial Integration, for it Is through inclusion and unity not exclusion and separation, that we realize our full potential and discover our true greatness. Many people and events played important roles in this process of racial integration. The focus of this research was to discover how athletes such as Larry Do by contributed to the acceptance of blacks as equals in the United States.
To begin the research the first question that needed to be answered In determining the contribution of Larry Do by and other black athletes was this: What impact do athletes have on society? Do we simply admire their accomplishments and dream of performing their heroic acts, but know that we could never be like them or do they actually inspire and motivate us to action? The answers to these questions will certainly vary from person to person and athlete, to athlete but generally speaking there Is no doubt that athletes do have the ability to initiate change.
In Anne Moody’s autobiography, Coming of Age In Mississippi, she describes her first encounter with Jackie Robinson. She was attending a NAACP meeting where Mr. Robinson served as a moderator:
Jackie Robinson was asked to serve as moderator. This was the first time I had seen him in person. I remembered how when Jackie became the first Negro to play Major League baseball, my uncles and most of the Negro boys in my hometown started organizing baseball leagues. It did something for them to see a Negro out there playing with all those white players. Jackie was a good moderator, I thought. He kept smiling and joking. People felt relaxed and proud. They appreciated knowing and meeting people of their own race who had done something worth talking about.
In addition, Arthur Ashe in his book, “A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete”, comments that athletes “were vastly better known in their times than people such as Booker T. Washington, William E. B. DuBois, or Marcus Garvey. They inspired idolatry bordering on deification, and thousands wanted to follow.”
These excerpts illustrate the powerful impact athletes can have on people. It is difficult to measure the force created when young people have a vision of doing something great because they have seen someone else accomplish it and know it is possible. It is hard to describe in words the feeling which takes place in someone who has their horizons broadened, who no longer has restrictions placed on their future, but rather is free to pursue whatever dreams they may have. While it is impossible to place a numerical value on the power of these forces, there is no doubt that ideas, dreams and visions are powerful motivators which, when truly believed in, are almost impossible to stop.
In addition to inspiring black people to dream, Larry Doby and other black athletes were able to use their athletic abilities to overcome racial barriers and encourage whites to accept blacks as equals. One example occurred when the Cleveland Indians were playing an exhibition game in Houston. Do by walked to the plate to the sound of racial slurs being hurled in his direction. In answer to those bigoted remarks, he hit a tremendous 500 foot home run. It was one of the longest home runs ever hit in Buffalo Stadium, and it silenced those who had just seconds before been attacking him. As Doby and others continued to display their ability to compete and excel against whites on baseball diamonds and other athletic venues, it became easier for whites to accept them as equals.
The ability of Larry Do by to promote racial tolerance and integration is best described in an incident which took place toward the end of his playing career. On June 13, 1957 Doby again stepped in to the batter’s box at Comiskey Park. He was facing Art Ditmar, a white pitcher, of the New York Yankees. Ditmar threw a fastball that caused Doby to dive to the ground to avoid being hit. In reaction, Do by ran to the mound and hit Ditmar with a left hook. This started a bench clearing brawl which stopped the game for half an hour. Shirley Pavich, a sports writer, described the fight’s significance this way:
Larry Doby, a colored player of the White Sox, dared to take a punch at Art Ditmar, a white pitcher of the Yankees, and history was being made. Never before in the 11 years since the bars were dropped and colored players admitted, albeit gingerly, to the major leagues, had a Negro thrown the first punch in a player argument.
There is no intent to condone what Doby did; merely to point out that the consequences fell far short of Civil War, or secession, or a violent sense of outrage except to Ditmar’s teammates who dashed to his assistance, but in no more anger than if his attacker had been a white player …
Ten years after playing his first major league game, Larry Doby was accepted as a baseball player. Not a black baseball player, but simply as a baseball player. He was able to use his talents to promote the acceptance of blacks as equals, and in the process inspired others to believe they could accomplish their dreams. This is the legacy of Larry Doby and other black athletes in contributing to the process of racial integration.
I am very grateful for the Research and Creative Activities grant which has allowed me the time and means to research this topic. I have gained greater insight and understanding about the role athletes have played in the process of racial integration and hope to be able to publish the results of my research.