New York ? Hall of Famer Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League, died Wednesday night after a long illness. He was believed to be 79.

Doby died at his home in Montclair, N.J., said his son, Larry Doby Jr.

Doby was a seven-time All-Star in a 13-year career, almost all of it spent in the outfield for Cleveland. He helped lead the Indians to their last World Series title in 1948.

On July 5, 1947, just 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier, Doby joined the Indians.

There are discrepancies over Doby’s age. Total Baseball listed his birth date as Dec. 13, 1923, while the Baseball Encyclopedia had it as Dec. 13, 1924. Even Doby’s friends weren’t sure of the exact date.

Though he would go on to hit .283 with 253 home runs and 969 RBIs in a big league career that lasted through 1959, his locker room reception that first day in the majors was chilly. Some teammates would not even shake his hand.

“Very tough,” Doby once recalled. “I’d never faced any circumstances like that. Teammates were lined up and some would greet you and some wouldn’t. You could deal with it, but it was hard.”

He was voted into the hall by its Veterans Committee in 1998.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was a coach for Doby after he replaced Bob Lemon as the Chicago White Sox manager on June 30, 1978.

“I got to know him in ’78. He brought me up to coach first for him, so I was with him for half a year. Man, that’s really bad news,” La Russa said.

“I kick myself. I saw his son early in the year and I asked him for his number and I didn’t call him. And I regret it.”