Doby was part of a December 3, 1957, multi-player trade between the White Sox and Baltimore Orioles, then was traded again on April 1 to Cleveland along with Don Ferrarese for Gene Woodling, Bud Daley, and Dick Williams. He appeared in 89 games with the Indians that season and had a .289 batting average, 13 home runs, and 45 RBIs. He was sent to the Detroit Tigers on March 21, 1959, in exchange for Tito Francona. Tigers general manager Rick Ferrell said, "this gives us some more power and we just hope Doby hits as well in Briggs Stadium this season as he has in other years." He hit .218 with four RBIs before Detroit sold the 35-year-old Doby to the White Sox on May 13 for $20,000.