 It would be hard to argue against it for sure. 1947 would see Cleveland Indians rookie Larry Doby become the first black player to play in the AL when he would strike out in a 6-5 loss. This is two weeks after Tara Robinson. Larry Doby is another one I don't feel like who gets enough credit in history. We all talk about Jackie being that first player. Doby was two weeks behind him, so he had to go through everything on the AL side, which Jackie was on the NL side.