Prometheus 6

Larry Doby, who broke the color barrier in the American League in 1947, three months after Jackie Robinson became the first black in modern major league baseball, died last night at his home in Montclair, N.J. He was 79.

He had been ill for some time, his son Larry Jr. told The Associated Press.

Doby, who was promoted to the Cleveland Indians on July 5, 1947, eventually became the second black to manage a major league team and became a member of the Hall of Fame. But his arrival in the major leagues was overshadowed by Robinson's debut.

"The only difference was that Jackie Robinson got all the publicity," Doby later said. "You didn't hear much about what I was going through because the media didn't want to repeat the same story."

Doby was destined to stay in Robinson's broad shadow for most of his career, and it took a half-century for baseball to fully examine his contributions, which included being named a All-Star seven times in a 13-year playing career in addition to his managerial appointment.

By 1997, baseball was honoring not only Robinson but also Doby, who by then had served as special adviser to commissioners and league presidents