Larry Doby - Early Life

Early Life

Lawrence Eugene Doby was born December 13, 1923, in Camden, South Carolina to parents David and Etta. Doby's father served in World War I and worked as a horse groomer and played semi-pro baseball but died at the age of 37 from a drowning accident in New York state when the younger Doby was eight years old. Doby's mother, who had already been divorced from David, moved to Paterson, New Jersey while Doby remained in Camden. He first lived with his grandmother but eventually moved in with his father's sister and brother-in-law where he lived from 1934–1938. Doby attended Jackson School, which was segregated under South Carolina state law. The first opportunity the school boy had to play organized baseball was while a student at Browning Home-Mather Academy, a private school affiliated with the Methodist church. Richard Dubose, known in local African-American circles for his baseball expertise and who had also managed Doby's father, gave Doby some of his first baseball lessons. Reflecting on his years growing up in South Carolina, including how he and play mates would use worn down broom handles for bats, Doby said, "Growing up in Camden, we didn't have baseball bats. We'd use a tree here, a tin can there, for bases."

After Doby had completed eighth grade, he moved north to Paterson at the age of 14 to be reunited with his mother, although he would be living full-time with a friend of his mother's and visit his mother once per week. Doby lettered in track and was an all-state athlete in baseball, football as a wide receiver and basketball while at Paterson Eastside High School. Eastside won a state championship in football and the team was subsequently invited to participate in a game in Florida. After the promoters of the game informed the team Doby, the only black player on the team, would not be allowed to participate, the team voted in support of Doby to forgo the trip.

During summer vacation Doby played baseball with a black semi-pro team, the Smart Sets. Doby played with shortstop teammate, Monte Irvin. He also enjoyed a brief stint with the professional basketball team, the Harlem Renaissance, as a non-paid substitute player. Upon completion of high school, he was offered an athletic scholarship to play basketball from head coach Clair Bee and so enrolled at Long Island University (LIU). Doby had since his sophomore year been dating Eastside classmate Helyn Curvy and according to Doby, being able to remain close to Paterson was the "main reason" he selected LIU.

In the summer before he enrolled at LIU, Doby accepted an offer to play for the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League for the remainder of the 1942 season. He later transferred to Virginia Union University.