A recent New York Times article delved into the story of the Cleveland Indians baseball team in 1948, and their approach to integration as well as the role it played in their championship success.

Not long after Jackie Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers, Bill Veeck, owner of the Cleveland Indians, signed Larry Doby to the team, making him the first black player in the American League and the second black player in the Major League. The same year he was signed, Doby helped lead the Indians to victory in the 1948 World Series against the Boston Braves. This triumph made him and his teammate Satchel Paige, the first black players to help win a major league championship—7 years before Jackie Robinson clenched the title in 1955.

Before being signed by the Indians, Doby played for the Newark Eagles in the Negro League at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey. A Paterson native, he was a rising star in the Negro leagues and “had fond memories of those times” according to his son, Larry Doby Jr.

To read more about Larry Doby and the 1948 Cleveland Indians team, see the full article here.