2014 03 08 Card Show Valley Forge PA: 1952 Topps HOF Larry Doby

Last week as part of the Year of the Horse series we profiled Ellis Valentine and his famous half face mask card. One of the interesting things that was noted in a linked Jeff Pearlman interview is the an early mentor of Valentine was Larry Doby. 

1952 Topps #243 Larry Doby

In 1947 Three months after Jackie Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Larry Doby became the first African-American player in the AL. On July 5, 1947 Doby pinch hit in the 7th inning of a game between the White Sox and Indians.

A year later Doby was a key member of the Indians squad that won the 1948 World Series. During the series he led the team in hits and batting average. 66 years later it remains the Indians most recent World Championship.

Larry Doby would go on to lead the AL in Home Runs twice (1952, 1954). His 1954 performance was good enough to place him 2nd in the MVP voting (Yogi Berra). Doby led the league in WAR in 1952 and oWAR in 1950. The MVPs those years went to Phil Rizzuto (1950) and Bobby Shantz (1952). It should be noted that Shantz's pitching WAR did outpace Doby 9.6 - 7.0.

For the Collector
I picked this card up at the Valley Forge Card Show for $8.  A 1952 Topps card of an Iconic Hall of Famer for $8 stinking bucks. That is my victory of the year.

2014 03 08 VF Card Show
1952 Topps #243 Larry Doby
1969 Topps #6 LL HR Dick Allen McCovey Banks  
1973 Topps #503 Phil Niekro
  
Sources
Baseball-ref
baseball Hall of Fame