Baseball legend Larry Doby honored with Congressional Gold Medal

Lary Doby honored with congrerssional gold medal

Larry Doby, a pioneering force for Black baseball players and a native of Paterson, New Jersey, is being recognized for his achievements on and off the field. FOX 5 NY's Kendall Green has the details.

The family of baseball pioneer, U.S. Navy veteran, and civil rights activist Larry Doby received the nation’s highest civilian award Wednesday on what would’ve been his 100th birthday.

The applause echoed in the capitol celebrating the late baseball Hall of Famer's legacy.

Politicians and loved ones at the ceremony remembered Doby’s life, recalling how he broke racial barriers on the baseball field and across the country.

"He's normally recognized for what he did on the field, but this kind of says he was a pretty good guy off the field, and he helped advance this country," said his son Larry Doby Jr.

The South Carolina native made a name for himself after moving to Paterson, New Jersey as a teen before trying out at historic Hinchliffe Stadium, one of the nation’s only ballparks still standing where Negro Leagues played.

At just 23 years old, in July 1947, he signed with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first black player to play in the American League just three months after Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Doby endured injustice, racial discrimination, and hate.

"He had to stay in separate hotels and eat in separate restaurants. Even some of the teammates were slow to welcome him," South Carolina Jim Clyburn shared in his remarks Wednesday.

Doby would become the first black player to hit a home run in the World Series a year later.

"When I struck out, a lot of those people struck out. When I got a hit a lot of those people got a hit. I feel proud to have been lucky enough to be the person to be asked to open the American League for blacks," Doby shared in an interview on FOX 5 in 1987.

Doby became a World Series champion in 1948, a 2-time American League homerun leader, and an RBI leader in 1954 and was later inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.

Doby always took the high road setting the example of class, sportsmanship, and character for players decades later.