Only the Cleveland Indians had retired Larry Doby's number, #14, he's second black player to played in MLB since Jackie Robinson was first black player to played in MLB. The Dodgers retired Robinson's number, later in 1997 MLB decided to retired #42 as all players aren't allows to wears #42.
2007-07-03 08:52:12 · 9 answers · asked by DXTRCHN11 6 in Sports ➔ Baseball
well, then why not the third, fourth, fifth, and so on...
the color barrier can only be broken once, I'm not taking anything away from the man, and the importance of what he did, but that might be part of the reason why his number wasn't retired.
2007-07-03 08:57:02 · answer #1 · answered by stateofwoo 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The jersey of Larry Doby (#14) was retired by the Indians in 1994. Doby was a solid ball player who was the first black player in the American League. He was 31 years old when he joined the Indians and played 13 years. He had over 100 RBI in 5 of those years and hit 20 homeruns, or more, 8 times. His number is deserving of retirement by the Indians but MLB is another issue.
2007-07-03 08:58:24 · answer #2 · answered by Frizzer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not sure. Doby "desegregated the A.L." He was the first black player in the American League. He deserves more respect than just that of the Indians. But, it takes quite a bit to have your number retired from MLB. Robinson's 42 is the only number retired from all of majors. Robinson's number will probably be the last retired throughout the majors for a long while. You have to do something simply amazing.
Cleveland fans love Doby. We are all able to recognize him for breaking the color barrier in the A.L. He did a service to MLB.
2007-07-03 08:59:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think Robinson's number should be retired in the NL , Doby's in the AL. It makes more sense. Doby was the first in the AL Robinsons in the NL. Doby went through just as much as Robinsion did but he did not get as much attention because he was quieter, and came in a few months later. No other African-Americans number should be retired(for this reason).
2007-07-03 09:42:32 · answer #4 · answered by red4tribe 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Should we also retire the 3rd, 4th, 5th black players jerseys too and so on?
Not taking anything away from Larry Doby, but you have to draw a line somewhere. Doesn't make him any less important.
2007-07-03 08:56:05 · answer #5 · answered by pa 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because Banks and Hodges wore #14, silly. Oh, no, let's retire the number of every black player ever. The esses want #21 retired for every team in honor of Clemente. Don't forget to retire the number of Manasaki Manahori or whatever, the Giants' pitcher from 1965, to honor the Japanese first player. Hell, let's just get rid of numbers entirely. Want a throwback uniforms day? Well, numbers were not required until 1929, so have a no-numbers day for a real throwback day. Nope--we can't--the non-number was retired to honor Sacawagea as the first Indian baseballer.
2007-07-03 08:59:41 · answer #6 · answered by wingo 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Hey, Frizer, double check your stats. Doby was 23 years old when he joined Cleveland. he was born Dec. 15, 1923, started w/ the Indians in 1947.
2007-07-03 11:21:15 · answer #7 · answered by Kelly P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
jackie played in NYC and larry doby played in cleveland. When the locals in nyc went to get his number retired, they went to the league office. when the locals in cleveland go to as, they went to the team.
2007-07-03 08:57:12 · answer #8 · answered by mrkeef 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
he didn't face the smae things Jackie did. he was great and dealt with some stuff but no where near what Jackie went thruw.
2007-07-03 09:29:22 · answer #9 · answered by Dodgerblue 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋