Larry Doby was second again.
A seven-time all-star, Doby put together a playing career that led to his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. He also won home run crowns in 1952 and 1954 with 32 long balls in each season.
However, because he followed a pair of legends named Robinson, he is often forgotten because he wasn’t first.
Back in 1947, Doby followed Jackie Robinson as the second African-American to cross baseball’s color line when he appeared in a contest with the Cleveland Indians on July 5, which made him the first in the American League.
Despite playing only 29 games that season with a batting average of .156, Doby survived to make the Indians the following year and become a valuable member of Cleveland’s 1948 World Series winners.
On June 30 in 1978, Doby followed another Robinson as the second African-American to take the reigns as a big league manager when he took over the Chicago White Sox. Frank Robinson was the first when he managed the Indians from 1975 to 1977.
Doby finished the season with the White Sox with a 37-50 mark in his only time in charge of the major league team as they ended in fifth place in the AL West. Doby replaced former teammate and another Hall of Famer in Bob Lemon.
The Lemon Twist
Lemon didn’t have to wait very long to find another position as he took over the helm of the New York Yankees later in the 1978 season as the they went on the win the World Series.
Ironically, Doby and Lemon never managed against each other that year. Lemon ended up 48-20 with the Yankees.
In their final series of the 1978 season, the Yankees swept the White Sox in Chicago in July before Billy Martin was fired by New York after the last contest.