Books and articles about Roy Campanella

Campanella, one of the five black players signed by Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey before the 1946 season, was the first catcher to break organized baseball's color line. Just 5'9" but solidly built, he had already proven himself as a catcher during nine years in the Negro National League, the winter leagues, and Mexico. In 12 additional seasons, 10 in the majors, he was one of the era's outstanding players, and his leadership and indefatigable enthusiasm made him one of the most popular players in the game.

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Born in Philadelphia of a black mother and an Italian father, Campanella began his baseball career in 1937 with a hometown semi-pro team, the Bacharach Giants. So impressive was his play that the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro National League offered him a uniform that year, though he was only 15 years old. Still in school, he played only on weekends and caught only to spell veteran Biz Mackey. The next year, however, he left school and joined the team full-time. He won the first-string job in 1939 and led the Giants to playoff triumphs over the Newark Eagles and the Homestead Grays. In four games he collected five hits, including one HR, and drove in seven runs.

Campanella soon challenged the aging Josh Gibson as the dominant Negro League catcher. He was voted the MVP in the 1941 East-West all-star game, but after a dispute with Baltimore owner Tom Wilson, he jumped to the Mexican League for part of 1942 and all of 1943. Rejoining the Giants, he led the league in doubles in 1944 and in RBI in 1945.

In October 1945, Campanella caught for a black all-star team in a five-game exhibition series against a squad of white major leaguers managed by Charlie Dressen. Dressen had orders to arrange an appointment for Campanella with the Brooklyn Dodgers, who later signed the catcher for their Nashua, NH, Class-B farm team (Eastern League), a club run by Buzzie Bavasi and managed by Walter Alston. Campanella, who roomed with pitcher Don Newcombe, hit .290, led the league in putouts, assists, and errors, and won the MVP award. In 1947 he advanced to Montreal, the Dodgers' International League team, and again was named the MVP, despite a season-ending slump that cut his average to .273. Paul Richards, then the Buffalo manager, called him "the best catcher in the business - major or minor leagues."

Campanella made the Dodgers in 1948, but his promotion to Brooklyn was delayed by Rickey's plan to have him integrate the American Association. The owner forced manager Leo Durocher to play the catcher in the outfield, where he was not successful, and then sent him to St. Paul (AA) in May. In 35 games, he had 40 hits (half for extra bases) and 39 RBI and batted .325 before being recalled.

Campanella returned to the Dodgers to stay. For the next nine years, he caught for outstanding Brooklyn teams whose members have been lionized as "The Boys of Summer." They won National League pennants in 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956, narrowly missed two others, and climaxed Brooklyn's baseball history with its only World Series triumph in 1955. Campanella's contributions to the Dodgers were remarkable. He won the MVP award three times in five years. In 1953, his best season, he batted .312, and scored 103 runs. Also, his 142 RBI (which led the league) and 41 HR set ML records for catchers (plus one HR as a pinch-hitter). He fielded with grace that belied his physique and handled with distinction a predominantly white pitching staff.

Like those of many catchers, Campanella's career was punctuated by injuries. In spring training of 1954, he chipped a bone in the heel of his left hand and damaged a nerve. It affected his hitting and limited him to 111 games. Surgery helped in 1955, but the problem returned the next year. Then, in January 1958, Campanella was permanently disabled in an automobile accident. Returning home from his liquor store, which he ran in the off-season, he lost control of his car on an icy street. The car slammed into a telephone pole and flipped over, pinning him behind the steering wheel. The crash fractured his fifth cervical vertebra and damaged his spinal cord. He survived and endured years of therapy, living far beyond the normal span for quadriplegics, but his career was over. He committed himself to decades of work in community relations for the Dodgers. (SG)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » July 27, 1942: The New York Daily Worker announces that Pittsburgh Pirates owner Benny Benswanger will arrange a tryout for Roy Campanella, Sammy T. Hughes, and David Barnhill. In August, Campanella and Hughes will jump their team during a tight pennant race to "showcase" for the ML. » July 1, 1948: Brooklyn's Roy Campanella makes his debut, catching Ralph Branca. Campy doubles in his first at-bat, adds two singles, but the Giants win 6–4 over Ralph Branca. » July 4, 1948: Led by Roy Campanella's 1st two ML homers, the host Dodgers edge the Giants 13–12 in a wild game lasting three 1/2 hours. 37 players see action, 20 by Brooklyn, as both teams score four times in the 9th. » July 12, 1949: The NL commits five errors, allowing the AL to record an 11-7 triumph in the All-Star Game at Ebbets Field. The contest marks the first appearance of black players--Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, and Don Newcombe in the NL lineup and Larry Doby among the AL stars. » October 7, 1949: The 9th inning decides the 3rd game also. At Ebbetts Field, with the game tied 1-1, the Yanks score 3, the Dodgers 2 in the final stanza. Johnny Mize's 2-run pinch single is the big factor followed by Jerry Coleman's run-scoring hit. Roy Campanella and Luis Olmo hit bases-empty HRs in the bottom of the 9th. » August 26, 1950: Roy Campanella of the Dodgers hits three HRs in a 7–5 win over the Reds at Crosley Field. » September 30, 1950: Before 23,879 at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn pulls within one game of the lead, as Erv Palica wins 7–3 over the Phillies. The Brooks rout rookie Bob Miller and then Duke Snider and Roy Campanella pound homers off Jim Konstanty. It is the Phillies fifth loss in a row, their eighth in 10 games. The red-hot Dodgers have now won 13 of their last 16 games. For the second year in a row, the pennant race will come down to the last game. If the Dodgers win tomorrow, the race will end in a three-way tie. » September 3, 1951: At Ebbets Field, the Dodgers sweep the Braves, winning both games 7–2, behind Carl Erskine and Clem Labine. Roy Campanella collects six straight hits, including his 30th and 31st homers, before being stopped. The Dodgers (84–47) lead is six games over the Giants (79–54). » September 23, 1951: Roy Campanella has four hits, including a homer off 15-game winner Bubba Church, and the Dodgers top the Phillies 6–3. Preacher Roe is the winner, his record going to an amazing 22–2. » November 1, 1951: The National League votes Brooklyn C Roy Campanella the league's MVP for what will be the first of three such awards. » May 17, 1952: Behind the spectacular pitching of Ben Wade, the Dodgers coast to a 12–7 win over the Pirates. Wade strikes out six batters in a row and does not allow a hit until rookie Tony Bartirome's single in the 6th when the Corsairs plate six runs. The Brooks get 11 hits including a bases loaded triple by Duke Snider. Roy Campanella is hit on the hand by a pitch from Ron Kline but x-rays reveal no fracture. » May 23, 1952: The Dodgers jar the Phils, 5–1, as Roy Campanella drives in all five runs. Campy has two homers (#99 and #100) in his first two at bats, including a grand slam. In his final at bat yesterday against the Reds, Campy also homered. Ben Wade wins over Karl Drews. » May 10, 1953: Behind Billy Loes and Roy Campanella the Dodgers move into first place with 5–0 win over the Phillies. Loes tosses his only shutout of the year, while Campy drives in all five runs with a double and homer. Campanella collects 44 RBIs in his first 30 games: not until Tino Martinez in 1997, will anyone else reach 40 in the first 30. » August 30, 1953: The Dodgers rip St. Louis 20-4 with the help of two big innings. Dodger Jackie Robinson fans twice in the third inning, while Gil Hodges walks twice in the sixth. Roy Campanella's five RBIs ties the NL season mark of most RBIs by a catcher (122). » September 4, 1953: Despite consecutive HRs by Wes Westrum, Al Corwin, and Whitey Lockman in the 3rd, the Giants lose to the Dodgers 8-6 in a game marred by beanballs and disagreements on calls. Following a Clem Labine brushback on Giants IF Bobby Hofman, Larry Jansen throws at Duke Snider and Roy Campanella in the 8th. » September 6, 1953: Roy Campanella sets the ML mark for HRs by a catcher. His 38th tops the NL high of 37 hit by Cubs C Gabby Hartnett in 1930. » October 2, 1953: The WS moves to Ebbets Field as Carl Erskine establishes a new Series strikeout record by fanning 14 Yanks, including Mickey Mantle and Joe Collins 4 times each. Roy Campanella breaks a 2-2 tie with a game-winning solo HR in the 8th for a 3-2 Brooklyn win » November 27, 1953: Indians 3B Al Rosen is unanimously named the American League's MVP with a record 336 votes. In the National League, Dodger C Roy Campanella is named MVP. » March 21, 1954: Roy Campanella, in attempting to break up a DP in an exhibition game against the Yankees, catches his spikes and chips the bone in his left hand. Though he hits two homers on Opening Day, he will have surgery in early May for the bone chips, returning May 30. As noted by Bill Deane, TSN will surmise that the injury started earlier than the sliding mishap, occurring when Campy was hit on the hand in the 1953 World Series. » May 2, 1954: The Dodgers bench C Roy Campanella, who is hitting only .167, but the game in Milwaukee is rained out. Tomorrow, he will undergo surgery for the removal of bone chips from his left hand. » May 30, 1954: Gil Hodges, given a 2nd chance when Whitey Lockman drops his foul pop, belts a 3-run inside-the-park homer in the 1st to lead the Dodgers to a 5–3 victory over the host Giants. Roy Campanella, out of action since May 4th with a wrist injury, is 0-for-4. » June 7, 1954: Dodger C Roy Campanella, who hit a home run earlier in the game, steals home in the 12th in a 7-5 victory over St. Louis. » August 3, 1954: The Dodgers bench Roy Campanella again for his ailing left hand. He plays only sparingly for the rest of the season. » May 5, 1955: In his first ML start, Dodger southpaw Tom Lasorda throws three wild pitches in the same inning, to tie a record. He also receives a spike wound from Wally Moon of the Cardinals in a play at the plate. Lasorda later blames his wildness on his catcher, Roy Campanella, but the Dodgers go on to win the game, 4–3. Before the game, Don Newcombe refuses to pitch batting practice for the 2nd time this week and Walt Alston tells him he's suspended. The two will settle their differences tomorrow and Newk will finish up the Dodgers, 6–4 12 inning win over the Phils. » September 30, 1955: The Dodgers Johnny Podres defeats Bob Turley who fails to last 2 innings against the Bums. C Roy Campanella leads the attack with 3 hits and 3 RBI, as Brooklyn wins 8-3 behind the strong effort of lefty Johnny Podres. » February 16, 1956: The courts award Dr. Samuel Shenkman $5,000 in his suit against Dodger C Roy Campanella for surgery on Campy's injured hand on October 20, 1954. Campanella says the doctor never informed him that the charge would be $9,500, a price the catcher considered excessive. » June 11, 1957: In a 7-2 loss to the Braves, Dodger C Roy Campanella hits his 237th career HR, surpassing career marks of Gabby Hartnett and Yogi Berra. The Braves move 1 1/2 game behind the leading Reds. » January 29, 1958: Dodgers C Roy Campanella suffers a broken neck in an early morning auto accident on Long Island. His spinal column is nearly severed and his legs are permanently paralyzed. » March 5, 1958: Duke Snider, Johnny Podres, and Don Zimmer suffer minor injuries in an auto accident in Vero Beach, FL, as they try to beat a 12:30 A.M. curfew. This is the 3rd accident in two months involving Dodger players; Jim Gilliam and his family had an accident shortly after Roy Campanella's. » May 7, 1959: The Los Angeles Coliseum is jammed by 93,103 on "Roy Campanella Night" for an exhibition game between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees. This is the largest crowd in ML history. The Yanks win 6–2. » February 23, 1960: Demolition of Ebbets Field begins. Lucy Monroe sings the National Anthem, and Roy Campanella is given an urn of dirt from behind home plate. » January 21, 1969: Stan Musial and Roy Campanella are voted into the Hall of Fame by BBWAA members. » November 19, 1986: Phillies 3B Mike Schmidt wins the National League MVP Award, joining Stan Musial and Roy Campanella as the only 3-time winners. Schmidt led the NL with 37 home runs and 119 RBI. » April 30, 1997: The Yankees get a lead off home run from Tim Raines and nine strike outs from David Wells to beat the Mariners, 3–2. Joe Torre wins his 1,000th game while Dennis Martinez takes the loss, dropping his record against the Yanks to 2–18. Jay Buhner homers for the M's in the 9th against closer Mariano Rivera. Tino Martinez hits his 9th home run in the 8th inning, upping his ML-record RBI total to 34 for the month. Martinez will have 40 RBIs in his first 30 games, the first player to do so since Roy Campanella in 1953; Campy had 44.