St. Andrew's TeenSpot Salutes
(1923-2003)
Born in Camden, South Carolina in 1923, Lawrence Eugene Doby was the son of David and Etta Doby. He was the first African-American to hit a home run in an All-Star game and was the first African-American to win a league home run crown. He is best remembered as power hitters, who like other power hitters, did strike out a lot. In May of 1948 he hit what would have been one of the longest home runs in history, estimated at over 500 feet, had it not hit a loud speaker hanging high over the center field fence in Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Almost exactly a year later he hit another home run over 500 feet. It cleared the scoreboard in right center field in the same ball park.
