this day is sports history..Larry Doby is HOF

People often forget that Larry Doby who on this day was inducted to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1998, was the 1st black person to play in the American League. He gets looked over because Jackie Robinson broke the the color barrier before he did.

Doby was signed by the Cleveland Indians by their owner Bill Veeck in 1947, eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in the National League. In his rookie season, Doby hit 5-for-32 in 29 games.

During the 1997 season, when the long-departed Jackie Robinson's number 42 was being retired throughout baseball, and the still-living Larry Doby was being virtually ignored by the media, an editorial in Sports Illustrated pointed out that Doby had to suffer the same indignities that Robinson did, and with nowhere near the media attention and implicit support

In 1948, Doby became an important piece of Cleveland's World Series victory against the Boston Braves. In Game Four of the 1948 Fall Classic, Doby became the first black player to hit a home run in World Series history. He also helped the Indians to win 111 games and the American League pennant in 1954.

this day in sports history...Jackie Robinson signed with Brooklyn

This day is long forgotten in the sense that I had to look this up. You would think there would be more of an uproar and celebration in all sports regarding this event.

What this date means to me is really pride. Yes, I say pride because I don't think I have the heart or the resolve that this man, this pioneer, this great American has displayed for his people and race. Going from the UCLA to War and then the Negro Leagues, finally Branch Rickey had the balls to go ahead and show what a black man can do in a white sport.

Jackie was not the most talented Negro League player at the time as Josh Gibson could swing with the best of them. No, he had the best temperament that any one man could have done in this situation. If you think about, we are all punks compared to what people in the Civil Rights Movement. Today we could not stand sitting on the back of the bus or staying in low budget hotel and eating establishments. The biggest and most important words he ever spoke of were the words he didn't say. If I was called "Nigger", "Spook", "Monkey", "Tar Baby" and last but not least "Jiggaboo".

Today we would have not let the word Ni...come out someones mouth before we take a fist to their face.

Jackie Robinson is a better man than I will ever be.