Greatness in the Shadows: Larry Doby and the Integration of the American League by Douglas M. Branson (review)

The recent PBS broadcast of the two-part Ken Burns's documentary Jackie Robinson proves that attention given to the first African American to integrate Major League Baseball (MLB) continues almost seventy years later. The subject of over fifty books, the Hollywood film 42, and the new documentary from Burns means that Jackie Robinson is a popular figure in baseball and civil rights history. However, Douglas Branson's book Greatness in the Shadows asks the question of why few people remember the man who was just eleven weeks behind Jackie Robinson in joining the MLB. Branson urges sports historians to remember that, while Robinson deserves recognition for being the first African American in the MLB when integrating the Brooklyn Dodgers, Larry Doby was not too far behind in desegregating the American League with the Cleveland Indians on July 5, 1947.

Branson writes as someone who is interested in resurrecting the long-forgotten career of a somewhat personal, childhood hero, but he does posit an important question in sports history: why is Doby not remembered for being a trailblazer for African Americans in sports while so much attention is given to Robinson? As Branson points out, Doby experienced the same forms of racism as Robinson, and perhaps to a certain degree even worse. For example, Doby was not allowed to stay at the Indians' team housing facilities for spring training in Tucson, Arizona, until 1954, and he did not have the advantage of being eased into Major League Baseball that Branch Rickey afforded to Robinson. Instead, Indians' owner Bill Veeck brought Doby straight to the majors, unlike Robinson who was sent to the Dodgers' minor league team in Montreal after leaving the Negro Leagues.

We are still left with the question, however, of why do we not remember Doby. It seems that even Branson cannot provide a definitive answer, positing several theories such as the fact that Robinson was in New York while Doby was in Ohio and that Doby was overshadowed by many players other than Robinson, including Hank Aaron, Willy Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Satchel Paige. Branson certainly proves that Doby deserves more recognition than sports fans and historians have given an athlete who integrated American League baseball parks that Robinson never played in, but readers may still be left wondering why Doby has fallen into obscurity. Branson shows it was not based on playing ability because Doby certainly held his own when compared to the other greats. Perhaps it really was as Branson posits, Greatness in the Shadows of others, but he shows us that people who are interested in the connection between sports and race need to remember that Jackie Robinson was not the only one breaking the color barrier in professional sports. In a time when Robinson is still heralded above all others, works such as Branson's are needed because they show it took more than one person to integrate Major League Baseball.