Major League Baseball is just one of many national institutions that discriminated against African-Americans despite, in many cases, evidence of unparalleled skill. On July 26, 1998, the league took a step toward righting some of its wrongs when it inducted Larry Doby and "Bullet" Joe Rogan into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Doby played four seasons for the Newark Eagles, a team that was part of the Negro League. After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, Doby followed him to the big league 11 weeks later. Over 13 subsequent seasons, he played for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers and became a seven-time All-Star.

"It's kind of like a bale of cotton has been on your shoulders, and now it's off," said Doby upon learning he'd been elected to the Hall of Fame.

"Bullet" Joe Rogan never made it to the dance, but that didn't make him any less of a star. In 1920, he began pitching for the Kansas City Monarchs, considered at the time to be the Negro League's premier team. For 18 years, Rogan was a "master on the mound and at the plate" and a hero to African-American baseball fans.

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