A friend sent me an email recently that went something like this: "Here are the statistics of two retired major leaguers; one is in the Hall of Fame, the other is not. The HOF members numbers are 137 Hrs, 734 RBI's, .311 BA. and the second, non HOF member's numbers are: 253 Hrs, 970 RBI's, .283 BA. Why isn't the second player in the Hall?" Now, maybe I've been doing too much research on the movie "42", but I automatically knew the first set of stats belonged to Jackie Robinson. Yes, they don't looked all that impressive, but when you figure he didn't come into the league until he was 28, and also suffered from injuries later in his career, they're actually pretty damn good. As for the other player, I had to think for a bit. Robinson was a second baseman for the most part, so I figured it had to be another player at that position. Only one player came to mind: Bobby Grich
It's hard to figure why Grich isn't in the HOF; he was a power hitting second baseman back when there just weren't any. Also, he was a four time Gold Glover, forming maybe the best double play combination of all time with shortstop Mark Belanger when they both played for the Orioles in the mid '70s. His best offensive years however came with the California Angels, where he helped that team to three division titles (he also had division titles w/ the Orioles, but Earl Weaver's team seemed to win that every year, although Grich played there in btw their pennant runs of 69-71 and 79). After giving my answer, my friend said, "Wrong, the answer is Larry Doby". I then told him that Doby in fact, WAS in the Hall of fame (albiet only fairly recently), but he inadvertently made his point...
Everyone knows that Jackie Robinson was the first black ballplayer, and most knowledgeable fans know that Larry Doby was the first black to play in the American league. I'm sure Doby, and other black ballplayers of the day had to deal with the same crap Robinson had, but didn't get the press because they weren't the first...and they didn't play for a New York team. Doby played center field for the Indians and was the first negro leaguer to go straight to the Majors. He was one of the main cogs in their 1948 championship year (along with fellow negro leaguer Satchel Paige, also in the HOF), the last WS Cleveland won. Even though he was in a different league than Jackie, he seemed to be playing second fiddle to him. It didn't end there, though...
After acting as a coach for the Expos, Indians and managing various Venezuelan winter league teams, Doby was shocked to find himself trumped again by another Robinson: Frank...as the Indians hired him the be the first black manager in 1975. In 1977, the former owner of the Indians, Bill Veeck, now owner of the Chicago White Sox, hired Doby to be hitting coach. Under Larry's tutelage, the Chisox batted .284 for the year. In June of '78, Doby's former teammate Bob Lemon was fired as the White Sox manager, making way for Doby to become the first Black manager in the American league. Again, you have to know a thing or two about the game to know this information. I guess his HOF induction in 1998 makes up for all the snubs...
While Jackie and Larry are in the Hall of Fame, Bobby Grich still isn't, so I'll finish this entry by making his case for the hall: Hrs, 224, RBI's 864, BA, .266. Four consecutive gold gloves, set the all time mark for fielding percentage by a second baseman in 1974, and broke that record in 1985, a year before he retired. During the strike shortened 1981 season, he tied for the league lead in home runs (w/ Dwight Evans, Tony Armas and Eddie Murray), the first major league second baseman to do so since Rogers Hornsby in 1929, and first American leaguer second sacker since Nap Lajoie in 1901. He was the first player inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in 1996...hopefully, the actual Hall of fame will induct him too...
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