PHILADELPHIA, PA — Roy Campanella, one of the first black major leaguers and a star of one of baseball’s greatest teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ “Boys of Summer,” was born in Philadelphia, Penn. on Nov. 19, 1921.
His father was Italian and his mother an African-American. At age 15 he joined a team known as the Bacharach Giants for weekend games through Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. He was later with the Baltimore Elite Giants — spending winters in the Latin American leagues — before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946, playing at Nashua, NH.
One of Campanella’s favorite expressions was, “You gotta have a lot of little boy in you to be a good ballplayer,” and he never lost his enthusiasm for the game. He bounced around behind the plate, chirping in his high-pitched voice. He caught every pitch with consummate ease and he swung the bat with energy that bespoke a man in love with his work.
Campanella won Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in 1951, 1953 and 1955. He earned his first citation despite a series of injuries that would have crushed a less-determined spirit.
Before one spring training, a hot water heater exploded in his face. During another spring training, he suffered a thumb fracture. Roy was beaned early in the ‘51 season, and he incurred lesser hurts throughout the season. With it all, the durable catcher played 143 games, batted .325, clouted 33 homers and batted in 108 runs.
When the Dodgers won the final game of the 1951 regular season in Philadelphia, Campanella pulled a leg muscle running out a triple. His attempts to run thereafter were painful caricatures of the real Campy, as he was nicknamed early on in his career. He was sidelined after the first National League playoff contest against the Giants, a situation that might have had a more serious effect on the Dodgers’ loss to the Giants than any other factor during the season.
When Campy received his first MVP plaque after the 1955 season, he announced: “When you win the first award, you’re happy. When you win the second, you’re very happy. But when you win the third, you’re overwhelmed.”
On May 7, 1959, an all-time record crowd of 93,103 thronged the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum — not for a World Series game, nor for a decisive contest in a pennant race. They flocked into the huge arena out of admiration and affection for a paralyzed ballplayer. It was a benefit night for Ray Campanella.
From his wheelchair, the onetime catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers intoned: “I thank God that I’m living to be here. I thank … every one of you from the bottom of my heart. It is something I’ll never forget.”
Nor will Campy’s contributions ever be forgotten. The rugged player was the heart of the Dodgers’ lineup that dominated the National League in the 1950s. When the Yankees and Dodgers played the 1959 benefit in Los Angeles, they were performing for one of the most popular athletes ever.
When Campanella was injured in an automobile accident in January of 1958, he had turned 37 and Dodgers president Walter O’Malley had only recently announced that the club would shift from Brooklyn to Los Angeles for the ‘58 season. Driving toward his Long Island home in the early morning hours of a cold night, the catcher struck a slick spot in the road and his car slammed into a utility pole. Roy was pinned in the wreckage. Two vertebrae were fractured and Campanella was paralyzed below the waist. His baseball career was over.
Campy gained even more fame after his accident as an inspiration and spokesman for the handicapped. He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.
Roy Campanella died June 26, 1993, in Woodland Hills, California.
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© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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