BALLPLAYERS | TEAMS | CHRONOLOGY | TODAY | BOOKS | NEWSLETTER | ERRATA | FAQ
Jump to:
Recent jumps
» John Clarkson
» whitey ford
» gary carter
» 1897
» 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers

What's New?
Current Totals
Free Newsletter

Report An Error
Fixed Bugs

Browser Button
Jump from anywhere!
Link Your Site

Get Published!
Reader Submissions

Team Pages
All Teams
Greatest Teams

The Ballplayers
Historical Matchups
Negro Leaguers
Hall of Famers
MVPs

Bookshelf
New Excerpts
Photo Collections

The Chronology
Flashbacks
Baseball Eras
Today in BB History
Anyday in BB History
Rules: 1845-1899
Rules: 1900-present

FAQ
Authors

BaseballLibrary.com
Copyright © 2002
by The Idea Logical
Company, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Dolf Camilli
1907-1997

  • Father of Doug Camilli
    [Courtesy Arnie Braunstein]
  • 1B 1933-43, 45 Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, Red Sox
    • Led League in hr 41
    • Led League in rbi 41
    • All-Star in 1939, 41
    • Most Valuable Player Award in 1941

    GamesAverageHRRBI
    Career 1490.277239950
    World Series 5.16701

    Books and articles about Dolf Camilli

    SHOPPING
    » Look for Dolf Camilli books at BN.com
    » Look for Dolf Camilli books at Amazon.com
    Your purchases keep BaseballLibrary.com online. Thank you!
    RELATED LINKS
    » 1941: That Magificent Streak

    Book Excerpts
    » Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era by Charles C. Alexander

    Corrections
    » June 18, 2003 (#253)

    Around the Web
    » Dolph Camilli from baseball-reference.com
    » HOLDING COURT -- The Men That Baseball Left Behind - In 1946, they joined a Mexican league, and in retaliation, heroes like first baseman Dolph Camilli were hung out to dry from sfgate.com (11/2/97)
    » PM BUZZ from sfgate.com (10/24/97)

    Jump directly to Library content from any website!
    Camilli combined graceful fielding with long ball power. When Larry McPhail assumed command of the decrepit Dodgers in 1938, Camilli was the first player he sought. A steady, low-key leader, Camilli became the Dodger captain, a counterbalance to excitable manager Leo Durocher. A former boxer whose brother had died in the ring fighting World Heavyweight Champion Max Baer, Camilli quelled clubhouse clashes with a quiet word and meaningful look. He also discouraged team veterans from hazing Dodger rookies Pee Wee Reese and Pete Reiser.

    Camilli hit at least 23 HR eight straight seasons. He was named MVP in 1941 after leading Brooklyn to the pennant with league highs of 34 HR and 120 RBI. When Brooklyn traded him to the rival Giants in 1943, Camilli refused to report. His son Doug caught for the Dodgers and Senators in the 1960s. (JK)


    Contribute your recollections of Dolf Camilli by clicking here.
    FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
    » August 26, 1930: In San Francisco, Dolf Camilli's brother, Frankie, dies after a boxing match yesterday with heavyweight Max Baer. Fighting under the name Frankie Campbell, he has his neck broken in the 5th round by a Baer punch and never recovers. Camilli, a star for Sacramento (PCL), will win the NL MVP in 1941.

    » May 17, 1934: In his first game in Philadelphia since the Phillies traded him to the Cubs, Chuck Klein hits two home runs to pace first-place Chicago to a 10–3 win. Gabby Hartnett adds another as Chicago pounds four hurlers for twenty hits. Kiki Cuyler and Dolph Camilli have four apiece to back the five hitting pitching of Bill Lee and Pat Malone. Malone gets credit for the win.

    » June 11, 1934: The Cubs send Dolph Camilli and cash to the Phillies for Don Hurst, the 1930 RBI leader. Camilli will later win the 1941 MVP with the Dodgers, while Hurst hits .199 for the Cubs and disappears.

    » August 2, 1935: Phillies 1B Dolph Camilli makes three errors in the first inning, a major-league record. He will lead the NL in fielding, however, in 1937.

    » July 7, 1936: The National League, having lost the first three All-Star Games, wins 4–3 at Boston's National League Park with four different Cub players (Galan, Herman, Hartnett, and Demaree) scoring runs. After Dizzy Dean and Carl Hubbell each pitch scoreless 3-inning stints, Curt Davis is hammered by the American League, including Lou Gehrig's home run, but Lon Warneke shuts the door. Meanwhile, the NL is helped by Joe DiMaggio's loose fielding and error and Augie Galan's home run. DiMag is the first rookie to play in an All-Star game. NL plays its starting lineup except for two late-inning pinch hitters. Local favorite and 3-time starter Wally Berger doesn't appear. Missing from the NL roster are Dolph Camilli and Buck Jordan, co-leaders at .348, as well as the eventual batting champ Paul Waner.

    » July 25, 1936: The Cubs pound out 19 hits to beat the Phils, 17–4, and extend their lead over the Cardinals to three games. Curt Davis is the winner, holding his former teammates to six safeties. Three of the Philley hits come in the 9th when they score three runs on Bashore's single and consecutive homers by Chuck Klein and Dolph Camilli. The Cubs are led by homers from Augie Galan and Ethan Allen as they chase Bucky Walters with four runs in the 3rd, and add another nine off Sy Johnson in three innings.

    » July 28, 1936: Dolph Camilli's 9th inning homer, his second of the game, caps a 4-run rally as the Phillies top the visiting Cubs, 5–3. Reliever Larry French, who replaces Roy Henshaw in the 9th, loses after he gives up a single to Johnny Moore off the RF wall to tie, K's Chuck Klein and serves up the dinger to Dolph.

    » May 19, 1937: The leading Pirates drop a 5–4 decision to the Phils as Dolf Camilli steals home in the 9th inning when relieve Mace Brown goes into a full windup. Morrie Arnovich collects a single, double and homer for the Quakers.

    » March 6, 1938: Brooklyn's Larry MacPhail buys Dolph Camilli, slugging Phillie 1B, for $45,000 and weak hitting Eddie Morgan. Camilli hit .339 with 27 homers last season.

    » June 3, 1940: Chicago loses to Brooklyn, 3–2, when Dolf Camilli homers off Claude Passeau.

    » September 1, 1941: Dolph Camilli hits the 200th HR of his career against the Braves to put the game into extra innings. Camilli gives the Dodgers a 6-5 victory in the 15th inning with his 5th hit of the game. He will end the season with 34 HRs and be selected as the NL MVP.

    » May 8, 1942: At Ebbets Field, in the first twilight game in 24 years, the Dodgers top the Giants 7–6 with Dolph Camilli's 7th inning home run onto Bedford Avenue the big blow. With more than 24,000 fans on hand, nearly $60,000 is raised for the Navy Relief Fund, as all the proceeds are donated. Everyone, including the ball players and umps, pay their way into the park.

    » August 15, 1942: With two outs and two strikes in the last of the 9th, Dolf Camilli hits a 2-run homer to give the Dodgers a 5–4 win over the Braves. With the homer, his 20th, Camilli takes over the National League lead.

    » August 23, 1942: At Ebbets Field, the Dodgers sweep two from their cross-town rivals. In the first game, the Giants took a 4–2 lead in the 10th on Johnny Mize's 2-run home run, only to see Dolf Camilli hit reliever Harry Feldman's 1st pitch for a grand slam and give Dem Bums a 6–4 win. The 2nd game, the Dodgers score two in the 5th to take a 7–5 lead in a game halted by darkness. The Dodgers now lead St. Louis by seven 1/2 games.

    » July 31, 1943: Dodger Dolf Camilli, the league's MVP in 1941, is traded with Johnny Allen to the Giants for Bill Sayles, Bill Lohrman, and Joe Orengo. Camilli declines to report his new team and retires to a California ranch for the season. The next year he will manage in the PCL and in 1945 will return briefly to the Red Sox.

    » August 14, 1945: Cleveland's Lou Boudreau suffers a broken right ankle in a collision at 2B with Dolf Camilli, but the Tribe beats the Red Sox, 3–0 behind Jim Bagby's 3-hitter.

    » May 30, 1947: In the first of two, Earl Torgeson of the Braves does not record a single putout at 1B, a record of idleness shared in the National League by Rip Collins (twice) and Dolf Camilli of the Phillies in 1937. Later Gary Thomasson and Len Matuszek will have zero putouts in a full game at 1B. Torgy does have one chance, but muffs a popup. Torgeson scores a pair as Warren Spahn wins his 8th in a row, 6–3. Red Barrett then shuts out the Dodgers in game 2, 3–0, dropping Brooklyn to 4th place. The Braves pull off a double steal in each game, and each time it is Stanky's high throw to the plate that allows it. Boston is now in 3rd place, a game behind the Giants.