II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 802 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of Lawrence Eugene ‘‘Larry’’ 

Doby in recognition of his achievements and contributions to American 

major league athletics, civil rights, and the Armed Forces during World 

War II. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 3, 2017 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 

GRAHAM, and Mr. SCOTT) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

Affairs 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal in honor of Lawrence 

Eugene ‘‘Larry’’ Doby in recognition of his achievements 

and contributions to American major league athletics, 

civil rights, and the Armed Forces during World War 

II. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Larry Doby Congres5 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) Larry Doby was born in Camden, South 

4 Carolina, on December 13, 1923, and moved to 

5 Paterson, New Jersey, in 1938, where he became a 

6 standout 4 sport athlete at Paterson Eastside High 

7 School; 

8 (2) Larry Doby attended Long Island Univer9 sity on a basketball scholarship before enlisting in 

10 the United States Navy during World War II; 

11 (3) upon his honorable discharge from the Navy 

12 in 1946, Larry Doby played baseball in the Negro 

13 National League for the Newark Eagles; 

14 (4) after playing the 1946 season, Larry Doby’s 

15 contract was purchased by the Cleveland Indians of 

16 the American League on July 3, 1947; 

17 (5) on July 5, 1947, Larry Doby became the 

18 first African-American to play in the American 

19 League; 

20 (6) Larry Doby played in the American League 

21 for 13 years, appearing in 1,533 games and batting 

22 .283, with 253 home runs and 970 runs batted in; 

23 (7) Larry Doby was voted to 7 All-Star teams, 

24 led the American League in home runs twice, and 

25 played in 2 World Series; 


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1 (8) in 1948, Larry Doby helped lead the Cleve2 land Indians to a World Series Championship over 

3 the Boston Braves and became the first African4 American player to hit a home run in a World Series 

5 game; 

6 (9) after his stellar playing career ended, Larry 

7 Doby continued to make a significant contribution to 

8 his community; 

9 (10) Larry Doby was a pioneer in the cause of 

10 civil rights and received honorary doctorate degrees 

11 from Long Island University, Princeton University, 

12 and Fairfield University; 

13 (11) in 1978, Larry Doby became the manager 

14 of the Chicago White Sox, only the second African15 American manager of a Major League Baseball 

16 team; 

17 (12) Larry Doby was the Director of Commu18 nity Relations for the New Jersey Nets of the Na19 tional Basketball Association, where he was deeply 

20 involved in a number of inner-city youth programs; 

21 and 

22 (13) Larry Doby was inducted to the National 

23 Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

2 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

3 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem4 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

5 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 

6 medal of appropriate design, in honor of Larry Doby and 

7 in recognition of his achievements and contributions to 

8 American major league athletics, civil rights, and the 

9 Armed Forces during World War II. 

10 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purpose of the 

11 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

12 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec13 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

14 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec15 retary. 

16 (c) TRANSFER OF MEDAL AFTER PRESENTATION.— 

17 Following the presentation of the gold medal in honor of 

18 Larry Doby pursuant to subsection (a), the gold medal 

19 shall be given to his son, Larry Doby, Jr. 

20 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

21 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

22 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 

23 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

24 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

25 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

26 and the cost of the gold medal. 


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1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

2 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck under 

3 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

4 of title 31, United States Code. 

5 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

6 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

7 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

8 items. 

Æ 


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