# 4695a - 2012 First-Class Forever Stamp - Imperforate Major League Baseball All-Stars: Larry Doby

US #4695a
2012 Larry Doby – Major League Baseball All-Stars (Imperforate)

• One of four stamps commemorating MLB Hall of Famers and the impact they’ve had on baseball

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Major League Baseball All-Stars
Value:  45¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  July 21, 2012
First Day City:  Cleveland, Ohio
Quantity Issued:  20,000,000 (Includes die-cut AND imperforate stamps. The exact quantity of imperforate stamps is unknown, but it is only a tiny fraction of the total print quantity, making the imperforates much scarcer than traditional die-cut stamps.)
Printed by:  Avery Dennison (AVR)
Printing Method:  Photogravure
Format:  Panes of 20
Perforations:  Die Cut 11
Tagging:  Phosphored, Type II

Why the stamp was issued:  To celebrate MLB great Larry Doby.

About the stamp designs:  Pictures artwork of Larry Doby by painter and illustrator Kadir Nelson of Los Angeles, California. He based the stamp art on historic photographs of the four players.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held in Cleveland, Ohio, Larry Doby’s hometown.

About the Major League Baseball All-Stars set:  Issued as reminders of great moments in the history of America’s pastime. Each stamp pictures a different famous baseball player: Ted Williams, Larry Doby, Willie Stargell, and Joe DiMaggio. Artwork by painter and illustrator Kadir Nelson of Los Angeles, California. He based the stamp art on historic photographs of the four players.

The First Day of Issue Ceremony for the se-ten was held in Cooperstown, New York, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. There were additional First Day of Issue Ceremonies the following day in each of the pictured players’s hometowns: Boston, Massachusetts (Ted Williams); Cleveland, Ohio (Larry Doby); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Willie Stargell); and New York, New York (Joe DiMaggio).

History the stamp represents:  During the fourth game of the 1948 World Series, the Cleveland Indians and Boston Braves were locked in a pitchers’ duel. Boston star pitcher Johnny Sain was pitching to a Cleveland outfielder named Larry Doby, who drove the ball 420 feet for a home run. This would prove to be the game winner.

As the Indians celebrated in the clubhouse after the game, a photographer snapped a picture of Doby and winning pitcher Steve Gromek hugging cheek-to-cheek in sheer joy, with ear-to-ear grins. The picture appeared in major newspapers across the country. It caused a stir.

Doby, a black man, had not even been allowed to play in the Major Leagues two years earlier. Now, he and his white teammate were instant symbols of America’s changing views on race.

Doby (1923-2003) was just 24 years old at the time. He followed Jackie Robinson as the second black player in baseball (Doby was first in the American League). He would go on to play in seven All-Star games and was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Years later, Doby was hired as manager of the Chicago White Sox. One of his players had been born in Cleveland in 1950, and was named Larry Doby Johnson, after the man who was now his manager.