Frank Lautenberg: “50 years ago this week, a young 22- year-old rookie named Larry Doby took the baseball field for the first time as a…”

“50 years ago this week, a young 22- year-old rookie named Larry Doby took the baseball field for the first time as a Cleveland Indian. Although Larry did not make a hit during that first at bat, he did something more: he made history. On that day, July 5, 1947, Larry Doby became the first African-American to play in the American League. I have had the great privilege of knowing Larry since our days growing up together in the streets of Paterson, NJ. I have developed a deep admiration for him. I ask that the text of an article that appeared recently in the Washington Post that captures Larry's character be printed in the Record. The article follows: [From the Washington Post, July 8, 1997] Neither a Myth Nor a Legend--Larry Doby Crossed Baseball's Color Barrier After Robinson (By David Maraniss) There is only one person alive who knows what it was like to be a black ballplayer integrating the white world of the major leagues during the historic summer of 1947. If you are young or only a casual follower of baseball, perhaps you have not heard of him. Larry Doby is 72 years old now, and his calm manner seems out of style in this unsporting age of self-obsession. He is neither a celebrity nor the stuff of myth, simply a quiet hero with an incomparable story to tell.…”