Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigdaddy
But I do believe that if Doby would have been first, and Jackie a few months behind him, that we would be talking about Doby and Jackie would be the footnote. Nothing against Jackie, just that 'first' matters. 'Second', not so much.
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Ya know, Tom, I have to disagree. My speculative opinion is that, even if Veeck had been allowed to bring Doby up at the same time as Rickey elevated Robinson - or even if Doby had debuted with the Indians a day before Jackie had with the Dodgers, the national dominance of New York marketing would have put Larry on page two of the sports section as a one graph note from the hinterland, while page one would have been splashed with pics and stories of Jackie's much more significant appearance in New York. And, the relative importance of each player's breakthrough would have remained in Robinson's favor because of the market he enjoyed. I think the greatly unappreciated value of Doby's cards today compared to Robinson's, given their similar career stats, informs that possibility.
