(LOT 1138)
Remarkable "Attic Find" of Larry Doby Artifacts from his 1944 Naval Academy Semi-Pro Team - Includes Possibly the Earliest Known Doby Signed Baseball & a Doby Signed Original Photo

 Jackie Robinson’s Major League debut will forever stand as one of our National Pastime’s momentous events, forever breaking baseball’s “Color-Barrier” that prevented African-American ballplayers from playing Major League baseball.   For years, so many of baseball’s greatest stars were restricted to playing solely Negro League baseball until Brooklyn Dodger’s general manager Branch Rickey boldly signed Robinson to play baseball with the Dodgers.  What gets “lost in the shuffle” is the fact that Cleveland Indians Hall of Famer Larry Doby quickly followed in Jackie’s footsteps, making his Major League debut on July 5, 1947 in a game against the White Sox at Comiskey Park; becoming the inaugural American League and second MLB African American player.  The significance of Doby’s courageous MLB debut cannot be overstated for it solidified the notion that formidable African-Americans were here to stay, with Robinson’s “breaking the color barrier” not a one-time anomaly.   As a bona-fide testament to Larry Doby’s storied career, Memory Lane is proud to present an absolutely incredible “attic find” of pre-MLB Doby artifacts relating to his 1944 semi-pro playing days with the Naval Great Lakes All Negro Baseball Team.  Our esteemed consignor Al Parker, who was born and raised in Lafayette, Indiana, inherited many artifacts from his mom after she passed away roughly a decade ago, one of which included an old-fashioned trunk from the 1940’s.  Al’s dad, Ens. Elmer James Pesek, had stored these collectibles in an attic-based trunk until his untimely passing at the age of 57 (1974).  Ens. Pesek (who later changed his name to Albert Parker) was a naval official during WWII and an avid baseball enthusiast.  In 1944, Ens. Pesek’s Naval superiors ordered him to form the first “All African American Navy Team” from the Illinois Great Lakes Naval Base, with this team including Navy enlistee Larry Doby.  After cleaning out his dad’s trunk that hadn’t been opened for years, Al found a hoard of Larry Doby items relating to this upstart 1944 Naval Team that was named the “Great Lakes Negro Blue Jackets”.   Some of the pertinent items include: original Larry Doby and team photos (one of which is a signed Doby image to Ens. Pesek); an autographed 1944 team ball including Doby’s script that, to the best of our knowledge, is the earliest known Larry Doby signed baseball (ball also includes some other interesting signatures with details of these autographs included at the end of the description); an official Navy issued Great Lakes Naval Base Team Manual for promoting the League, an original Newspaper printing template w/Ens. Pesek and Doby and various newspaper clippings from that fabled 1944 season.  It should be noted that due to the “uniqueness” of these early Doby autographs, PSA was unable to issue an LOA since no pre-MLB Doby scripts were available as bona-fide exemplars.  Although “inconclusive with PSA”, it is clearly obvious that their exclusivity and unquestionable provenance from Ens. Pesek (and son Al Parker) places these autographs as irrefutable genuine Larry Doby scripts, and to the best of our knowledge, the only known pre-MLB/1947 examples.  In order to truly understand the significance of this miraculous discovery, we need to provide you with a “glimpse” of Larry Doby’s path to professional stardom.        

Larry Eugene Doby’s first encounter with professional baseball was with the prestigious Newark Eagles club in 1942 when at the tender age of 17, he signed for the modest salary of $300.  The talented Doby started his career as a formidable middle infielder, eventually having to place baseball on the side for two years when he joined the U.S. Navy in 1943.  His second year in the Navy (1944), he was stationed at Camp Robert Smalls at the Great lakes Training Naval School near Chicago.  It was in 1944 that our consignor’s father would build this African-American team from the ground up, serving as their manager and developing an incredible life-long bond with Larry Doby.  After the war, Doby would eventually find himself playing again with the Newark Eagles in 1946 and batted a sensational .360.  Meanwhile, eccentric Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck (who was always looking to formulate some marketing scheme for promotional purposes - you do remember Eddie Gadel!) had his sights already set on signing Doby for the 1947 season.  Considering Branch Rickey had signed Jackie Robinson to a 1946 minor-league contract with the Montreal Royals, the flamboyant Veeck was not going to be outdone.  Instead of signing Doby to a minor league contract, his plan was to simply buy his contract outright from the Eagles and immediately place him in a Major League game straight from his Newark based team.   On July 3, 1947, Veeck paid Newark $15,000 to snatch Doby, and as previously stated, he made his MLB debut on July 5, 1947 at Comiskey Park.  Unfortunately, for Doby, Cleveland’s current middle infield already included two All-Stars (Lou Boudreau & Joe Gordon), so Doby was ultimately moved to center field where he would embark on a storybook Hall of Fame career.  

Needless to say, this “attic find” effectively turns back the clock to an era when Larry Doby was about to make his mark on MLB baseball.  Finding documents from any Cooperstown Inductee’s pre-MLB debut is a near-impossible event, let alone a player who followed directly in the iconic Jackie Robinson’s footsteps.   Regarding that 1944 Naval Academy season, led by our consignor’s beloved father Ens. E.J. Pesek, the team would compile a sensational 39-9 record, playing a number of exhibition games against major league clubs such as the Red Sox, Indians, Dodgers, Giants, Reds, Browns, Tigers, White Sox, Phillies and Pirates (all of these teams are included on the 1944 schedule listed in the Naval Manual).  Simply stated, this is an unfathomable compilation of artifacts from Larry Doby’s early playing days, and we once again extend our sincere gratitude to the Parker family for allowing us to present it to the collecting community.  In lieu of the unparalleled hype associated with virtually all Jackie Robinson relics, we cannot even begin to estimate the ultimate value of such a unique Larry Doby gathering.   An irrefutable one of a kind collection!!!