Will Hall Find Room For Doby?

Long ago, Larry Doby earned his place in baseball history as the first black player in the American League.

Today, all he’s accomplished since might earn him a plaque in the Hall of Fame.

Doby, a hard-hitting outfielder who became a manager and an executive, will be a leading candidate when the Hall’s Veterans Committee meets to vote on new members.

Dick Williams, who managed the Oakland Athletics to two World Series championships, and longtime Pittsburgh second baseman Bill Mazeroski also are expected to get consideration. So are former A.L. president Lee MacPhail and former commissioner Bowie Kuhn.

Doby was in the majors from 1947-59, hitting 253 home runs with 969 RBIs while batting .283. He won two A.L. homer titles.

Vaughn failed field tests

Mo Vaughn had been drinking at a strip club before he crashed into a car parked beside the highway and flipped his pickup, according to testimony at his trial at Dedham, Mass., on drunken driving charges.

“It was obvious that he was intoxicated,” trooper Paul McCarthy said, reaching the conclusion after the Red Sox first baseman failed eight sobriety tests. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Radio great faces surgery

Longtime Cubs broadcaster Jack Brickhouse, who collapsed while dressing to attend Harry Caray’s funeral, has a brain tumor that probably is benign.

The 82-year-old Hall of Fame announcer is scheduled to have the tumor removed today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Around the camps

Randy Johnson pitched three shutout innings as the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 9-2 at Peoria, Ariz.

Johnson allowed three hits and one walk and struck out four.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays won for the first time against major league competition, scoring four times in the seventh inning to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2.

Dmitri Young singled in two runs and Eddie Taubensee had a two-run homer as the Cincinnati Reds rocked A.L. Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens for five runs in the first inning and beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-0.

Mark McGwire hit a three-run homer as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-5.