This was a very interesting book. First even though I knew of the name Larry Doby I did not know that he entered the American League 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson. He was also for a number of years was the only African American playing in the American League, while the National League would continue to add players. Also he was the star of the 1948 World Series, first African American to hit a homerun in the World Series, first to play on a championship in both the Major league with the Cleveland Indians and also with the Newark in the Negro Leagues. First to win the Major League home run title (1952), and again in 1954. There are other stats as well, one is that he was also the second African American Manager in the big leagues, so not only the second player but also the second manager, and you know what he never complained once about any of it. He did not go to the minors for a year he went straight to the majors, and Bill Veeck tried do things to help him but not everything worked out. the bases of this book really is that the author is trying to say that while he played in Cleveland he did not get the press as did the players in the New York market, which is true for the most part. The author also goes into the press having favorites. That is also true just look at how the Press treated Maris as opposed to Mantle. If Mantle would have hit 61 it would have been totally different, but he got hurt and they lit into Maris. Doby playing for the Indians was hammered by the local press and the author goes into it. I did find out that there is a section in Yogi Berra museum all about Larry Doby. Their families were very good friends and Yogi made it part of the deal to have a museum that Larry Doby had to be included. I thought that was very interesting. There was a lot about Larry Doby I did not know about and though yes he was the second person he still was the first for the American League and for years was the only African American representing the American League not just because he was African American but because he had the numbers and for most of the 50’s he was the only one. The history between the two leagues is very interesting because Bill Veeck had a hand in integrating the Indians and then when he became owner of the White Sox he did the same with them. While National League teams would have three players some American League teams would have one or none until the late 50’s or early 60’s. Doby would be the last to retire from playing for the players who would come into the game between 47 and 50, but he did not get elected into the Hall of Fame until 1998, and the Indians did retire his #14 and have a statue in front of their stadium of Larry Doby. Overall a good book.

Parts of this book were fantastic, and parts of it really needed an editor. When Branson would focus on Larry Doby and his years, the writing was much smoother, and there was very little drag. Even when Branson would add historical details and explain about other players who overshadowed Doby, it went pretty smoothly. The problem is when he tried to connect all of this into his main thesis, that Doby was overshadowed by a great deal through his career. I don't disagree, but I feel like these parts of the book were the least clear and the most bogged down. I truly did feel like I learned a lot about Doby and his times, but there were many, many, many instances of repetition throughout the book, which made it a little difficult to get through. I also felt that there were times the author was trying to demonstrate how much research he did, instead of picking out the most salient parts of Mickey Mantle's career, or Willie Mays' career, or so on. His focus would sometimes wander, like he had found all this information and he was bound and determined to get it into the book.
Overall, I felt like it was a strong book, but it really needs some strong editing.