This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/7/2014
Larry Doby was another of baseball’s ground-breaking players, much in the same vein as Jackie Robinson. This lot includes a significant Larry Doby baseball contract signed on February 17, 1947, to play in Puerto Rico! As it turned out, Doby’s next contract would be to play for the Cleveland Indians in August of that same year and by doing so, he did for the American League what Jackie Robinson had done earlier that year for the National League: break the league’s color line to become the junior circuit’s first African-American player. Doby had caught the eye of major league scouts after an outstanding four-year career in the Negro leagues, the final season in which he hit .414. While his A.L. debut four months after Robinson’s didn’t generate nearly as many headlines, Doby faced the same obstacles and met them head-on with masterful play both in the field and at the plate. He was named to every AL all-star team from 1949-54 and led the league in home runs in 1952 and 1954. He finished his major league career in 1959 with a .286 lifetime average and was eventually elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998. This is Doby’s final contract before he made MLB history!
Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.