When Sony broke in, who were his:
Pee Wee Reese (teammate who make him feel accepted)
Stan Musial (opponent who made him feel accepted)
By most accounts, Indians’ second baseman Joe Gordon (who had been an MVP award winner with the Yankees years earlier) was Doby’s most welcoming teammate when he was the only black player on the team in 1947.
The following season, the Indians also had Satchel Paige and Minnie Minoso on their roster, so Doby wasn’t as isolated as many other black players of that era.
Among opposing players, Mickey Vernon was probably the most supportive of Doby. He had met and befreinded Doby while they were in the Navy together, and he had urged Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith (unsuccessfully, of course) to sign Doby. Vernon later spent a few years as Doby’s teammate in Cleveland.
P.S. Gordon gets a little extra credit because Doby had been a second baseman in the Negro Leagues, and Gordon (who was 32) could have been forgiven for viewing the younger Doby as a threat.
Instead, player-manager Lou Boudreau moved Doby to center field.
TY Astorian! Feared this OP would fade into the ether.