WASHINGTON - Cleveland Indians legend Larry Doby, the first black baseball player in the American League, would get a posthumous gold medal from Congress under legislation that Wadsworth Republican Rep. Jim Renacci is cosponsoring with New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell.
A press release from the pair noted that Doby was only the second African American to join a major league baseball team, after Jackie Robinson, who joined the National League's Brooklyn Dodgers 11 weeks before Doby joined the Indians.
The center fielder spent 12 years in the American League, was voted onto seven all-star teams, and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.