Biography
This page uses content from the Roy Campanella biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
| Roy Campanella | |
|---|---|
| Position | Catcher |
| MLB Seasons | 10 |
| Teams | Brooklyn Dodgers |
| Debut | 20 April 1948 |
| Final Game | 29 September 1957 |
| Total Games | 1,215 (1,183 catching) |
| LCS Appearances | 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956 |
| World Series Teams | 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956 |
| Allstar Teams | 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956 |
| Awards | NL MVP: 1951, 1953, 1955 |
| TSN NL Player of the Year: 1953 | |
| Baseball Hall of Fame (1969) | |
| Nickname | |
| "Campy" | |
Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993) was an American catcher in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball.
He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was of Italian descent; his mother was African American, so he was barred from Major League Baseball until 1947, when players of color were admitted to the major leagues.
Campanella played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) from 1948 to 1957, as their regular catcher. In 1948, he had three different uniform numbers (33, 39, and 56) before settling down to number 39 for the rest of his career.
His first game was on April 20, 1948.
He played in the All-Star Game every year from 1949 to 1956.
He received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the National League three times: in 1951, 1953, and 1955. He was in tenth place in the MVP voting in 1952.
In 1953, he hit 40 home runs in games in which he appeared as a catcher, a record that lasted until 1996, when it was broken by Todd Hundley. It's also this feat which earned him a mention in Billy Joel's history themed song We Didn't Start the Fire.
Campanella was paralyzed from the chest down after an automobile accident in January 1958. Through physical therapy, he eventually was able to gain substantial use of his arms and hands. He was able to feed himself, shake hands, and gesture while speaking, but he would be confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. Of course, his playing career was over, and he could never play for the Dodgers after their move to Los Angeles.
In May 1959, the Dodgers, by then relocated to Los Angeles, honored Campanella with Roy Campanella Night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The New York Yankees agreed to make a special trip to Los Angeles to play an exhibition game against the Dodgers for the occasion. The attendance at the game was over 93,000, still the largest crowd ever to attend a Major League Baseball game.
In 1969, Roy Campanella was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the second player of African American heritage so honored after Jackie Robinson. On June 4, 1972 the Dodgers retired his uniform number 39 alongside Jackie Robinson's (42) and Sandy Koufax's (32).
After his playing career, Campanella remained involved with the Dodgers. In 1978, he moved to California and remained active in the Dodgers' community relations department. He served as a mentor and adviser to young catchers in the Dodger organization.
In 1993, Campanella died at his home in Woodland Hills, California. He was interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
His widow, Roxie, died in 2004.
In 1999, Campanella ranked number 50 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
The book Carl Erskine's Tales from the Dodgers Dugout: Extra Innings (2004) includes short stories from former Dodger pitcher Carl Erskine. Campanella is prominent in many of these stories
In 2006, Campanella will be featured on a United States postage stamp [1]. The stamp is one of a block of four honoring Baseball Sluggers.
In September 2006, Campanella's club, The Los Angeles Dodgers announced the creation of The Roy Campanella Award, Which will be voted among the club's players and coaches and be given to the Dodger who best exemplifies "Campy's" spirit and leadership. The winner of the inaugural award will be honored on September 24th.
Roy Campanella authored the inspirational book It’s Good to be Alive, which details his journey back from a near-fatal car accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Thanks to years of tireless efforts by physical therapist Sam Brockington, Roy Campanella regained some use of his arms, and eventually overcame his initial bitterness, adopting an optimistic outlook on life. Michael Landon made his TV-movie directorial debut in the 1974 movie It’s Good to be Alive, In which Campanella was portrayed by Paul Winfield.
In October 2006, Simon & Schuster announced plans to publish a new biography of Campanella to be written by Neil Lanctot, author of Negro League Baseball - The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution.
See also
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
- Batters with Two 3-Home run Games in a Season
External links
- Roy's page @ Baseball Hall of Fame
- Roy's page @ Baseball-Reference.com
- Roy's page @ Baseball Almanac site
- Roy's page @ Baseball Library.com
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
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