Baseball Legends: Larry Doby (Indians 1947-1955, 1958, White Sox 1956-1957, 1959, Tigers 1959)

“I knew being accepted was going to be hard, but I knew I was involved in a situation that was going to bring opportunities to other blacks.” – Larry Doby

Larry Doby was the second African American player to play in the Major Leagues. That is kind of like the second man to walk on the moon, or the second man to break the sound barrier. Most people could not tell you their name. Doby was signed by the Cleveland Indians eleven weeks after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by Bill Veeck. While Jackie is fondly remembered by everyone, Doby is rarely named in the same breath. He was the first black player in the American League, and thus became the answer to a trivia question.

Baseball Legends: Ty Cobb (Tigers 1905-1926, A’s 1927-1928)

“I often tried plays that looked recklessly daring, maybe even silly. But I never tried anything foolish when a game was at stake, only when we were far ahead or far behind. I did it to study how the other team reacted, filing away in my mind any observations for future use.”

These are the immortal words of Ty Cobb. He is regarded as the best player of the dead-ball era. His accomplishments on the field are often disputed, mostly because records were poorly kept at the turn of the 20^th century. As a result, his career hits total anywhere between 4,189 to 4,192. He also has 11 or 12 batting titles, depending on the source. Even with these discrepancies, the numbers are still impressive.