ANALYSIS/OPINION:
With all the ugliness and despair that has consumed the nation’s politics recently, it would be easy to overlook a singular, inspirational point of light that emerged from Congress last month.
Lawmakers put aside the rancor to honor baseball legend Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League who followed Jackie Robinson in breaking down baseball’s color line.
Doby, a seven-time All-Star who broke into baseball with the Cleveland Indians two months after Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal — given to those “who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipient’s field long after the achievement.