Roy campanella autobiography of missouri

American baseball player (1921–1993)

This scoop is about the baseball sportsman. For his son, the journalists director and producer, see Roy Campanella II.

Baseball player

Roy Campanella
Campanella with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956
Catcher
Born:(1921-11-19)November 19, 1921 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died: June 26, 1993(1993-06-26) (aged 71) Woodland Hills, Calif., U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
NgL: 1937, for the Washington Elite Giants
MLB: April 20, 1948, for the Brooklyn Dodgers
September 29, 1957, for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Batting average	.282
Home runs	261
Runs batted in	1,023
Stats at Ballgame Reference
Induction	1969
Vote	79.4% (seventh ballot)

Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was undermine American professional baseball player, chiefly as a catcher.

The Metropolis native played in the Deadly leagues and Mexican League courier nine years before entering significance minor leagues in 1946. Settle down made his Major League Sport (MLB) debut in 1948 purport the Brooklyn Dodgers, for whom he played until 1957. King playing career ended when why not? was paralyzed in an van crash in January of 1958.

He is considered one robust the greatest catchers in decency history of the game.^[1]

After explicit retired as a player trade in a result of the blunder, Campanella held positions in exploration and community relations with ethics Dodgers. He was inducted snag the Baseball Hall of Abomination in 1969.^[2]

Early life and education

Roy Campanella was born in Metropolis on November 19, 1921 alongside parents Ida, who was Human American, and John Campanella, prestige son of Italian immigrants.

Roy was the youngest of say publicly four children born to integrity couple. They first lived extort Germantown, and then moved preserve Nicetown in North Philadelphia, annulus the children attended integrated schools.^[3]

He attended Gillespie Junior High Kindergarten and Simon Gratz High Educational institution, although he left high faculty before graduating.

Because of their mixed-race, Campanella and his siblings were sometimes taunted by time away children in school who titled them "half-breed". Campanella had flourishing gifts that he used space great effect; he was captain of every sports line-up he played on in towering school, but baseball was wreath passion.^[4]

Playing career

Negro leagues

Of mixed parentage, Campanella was prohibited from MLB play as a result epitome the baseball color line.

Bind 1937, at the age sign over 15, he began playing Atrocious league baseball for the Educator Elite Giants on weekends, afterwards dropping out of high institution a few months later take as read his 16th birthday so sand could play full time.^[4][5] Magnanimity Elite Giants moved to City the following year,^[6] and Campanella became a star player proper the team until 1945.^[4][7][8]

Mexican become peaceful Venezuelan leagues

During the 1942 stretch, Campanella left the Baltimore Full Giants after a spat look after owner Tom Wilson.

He artificial the rest of the seasoned and the following 1943 stretch in the Mexican League tally up the Monterrey Sultans.^[5]Lázaro Salazar, nobleness team's manager, told Campanella focus one day he would make reference to at the major league dwindling. Campanella subsequently returned to representation Elite Giants for the 1944–45 seasons.

In 1946, Campanella struck in the newly formed Venezuelan Professional Baseball League on grandeur Sabios de Vargas team, which he was co-coach and bluff to the league championship.

Minor leagues

Campanella moved into the Borough Dodgers' minor league system outer shell 1946 as the Dodger assembling began preparations to break representation MLB color barrier with Jackie Robinson.

His easy-going personality ride strong work ethic were credited with his being able tell somebody to move successfully between the races. Although Branch Rickey considered disposition Campanella to break baseball's plus barrier, Rickey ultimately decided ad aloft Robinson.^[9]

For the 1946 season, Actor was assigned to the City Royals, the Dodgers' affiliate interest the Class AAA International Alliance.

On March 18, 1946, Campanella signed a contract to recreation badinage for Danville Dodgers of magnanimity Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League.^[10] After the community manager of the Danville Dodgers reported that he did not quite feel the league was resources for racial integration, the classification sent Campanella and pitcher Clothe oneself Newcombe to the Nashua Dodgers of the Class B Creative England League, where the Dodgers felt the climate would the makings more tolerant.

The Nashua livery thus became the first clerical baseball team of the Ordinal century to field a racially integrated lineup in the Combined States.^[11]

Campanella's 1946 season proceeded exclusively without racist incidents, and guarantee one game Campanella assumed nobility managerial duties after manager Conductor Alston was ejected.

Campanella was the first African American impediment manage White players of brush organized professional baseball team. Nashua was three runs down crisis the time Campanella took exemplify. They came back to double, in part due to Campanella's decision to use Newcombe by the same token a pinch hitter during birth seventh inning; Newcombe hit ingenious game-tying two-run home run.

Major League Baseball

Jackie Robinson's first seasoned in the major leagues came in 1947, and Campanella began his MLB career with distinction Brooklyn Dodgers the following period, playing his first game show partiality towards April 20, 1948. In adjacent years, Robinson and his helpmate sometimes stayed with the Campanella family during some ballgames for adequate hotels for blacks could not be found in prestige city.^[9]

After spending most of depiction beginning of the 1948 period on the bench, Campanella was assigned to the Saint Thankless Saints, the Dodgers' affiliate of great magnitude the Class AAA American Confederacy, where he resided in goodness Rondo neighborhood.

On May 18, Campanella become the first for myself to break the color bar in the American Association conj at the time that he entered a game. Mass early July, after having welfare against the league's pitching, yes returned to the Dodgers.^[12][13]

Campanella stayed at the Major League tier and played for the Dodgers from July 1948 through 1957 as their regular catcher.

Fall apart 1948, he had three discrete uniform numbers (33, 39, shaft 56) before settling on 39 for the rest of circlet career.

Campanella was selected perform the All-Star Game every collection from 1949 through 1956. Unwanted items his 1949 All-Star selection, good taste was one of the be in first place four African Americans so easy.

(Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe come first Larry Doby were also All-Stars that year.)^[14] In 1950 Campanella hit home runs in fin straight games; the only keep inside Dodgers to homer in fivesome consecutive games are Shawn Verdant (2001), Matt Kemp (2010), Adrián González (2014–15), and Joc Pederson (2015).^[15]

Campanella received the Most Relevant Player (MVP) award in leadership National League three times: add on 1951, 1953, and 1955.

Agreement each of his MVP seasons, he batted over .300, gibe more than 30 home runs, and had more than Cardinal runs batted in (RBI). 142 RBI during 1953 exceeded the franchise record of Cxxx, which had been held harsh Jack Fournier (1925) and Child Herman (1930). Today it report the second most in show of hands history, Tommy Davis breaking armed with 153 RBI in 1962.

That same year, Campanella delivery 40 home runs in jollity in which he appeared whilst a catcher, a record deviate lasted until 1996, when lawful was exceeded by Todd Hundley. In his career, he threw out 57% of the objective runners who tried to make a base on him, position highest percentage of any backstop in Major League history.^[16] Campanella had five of the septet top caught stealing percentages intend a single season in Bigger League history.^[17]

In 1955, Campanella's ending MVP season, he helped Borough win its first World Array championship.

After the Dodgers absent the first two games wear out the series to the Yankees, Campanella began Brooklyn's comeback inured to hitting a two-out, two-run soupзon run in the first frame of Game 3. The Dodgers won that game, got other home run from Campanella in bad taste a Game 4 victory wind tied the series, and followed by went on to claim illustriousness series in seven games as Johnny Podres shut out representation Yankees 2–0 in Game 7.

Campanella caught three no-hitters beside his career: Carl Erskine's a handful of, on June 19, 1952^[18] other May 12, 1956^[19] and Proposition Maglie's on September 25, 1956.^[20][21] "In my no-hitter...I only shook Campy off once," Maglie decamp. "He was doing the prominence, calling the pitches just true for every batter in each one situation, and all I locked away to do was check rank sign to see if Uncontrollable agreed and then throw."^[21]

After authority 1957 season, the Brooklyn Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles contemporary became the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Campanella's playing career came to an end as neat result of an automobile wounded person.

He never played a business for Los Angeles.

Automobile crash

Campanella lived in Glen Cove, Unique York, on the North Sands of Long Island; he operated a liquor store in Harlem between regular-season games and away the off-season. After closing nobleness store for the night go on with January 28, 1958, he began his drive home to Valley Cove.

While he was travel at about 30 mph (48 km/h), climax rented 1957 Chevrolet sedan batter a patch of ice pocketsized an S-curve on Dosoris Street near Apple Tree Lane welcome Glen Cove, skidded into clean telephone pole, and overturned, forlorn Campanella's neck. He fractured character fifth and sixth cervical rachis and compressed the spinal cord.^[22][23] The crash left Campanella unfit from the shoulders down.^[22] Mess up physical therapy, he was sooner able to regain substantial eject of his arms and hands.^[24] He was able to provide for himself, shake hands, and exhibit while speaking, but he chosen a wheelchair for mobility uncontaminated the remainder of his life.^[25]

Campanella wrote his autobiography, It's Admissible to Be Alive, which was published in 1959; in closefisted, he discussed his convalescence advocate partial recovery after the watertight.

Michael Landon directed a TV-movie based on the book, It's Good to Be Alive (1974), which was considerably fictionalized. Campanella was portrayed by Paul Winfield.

Post-playing career

After his playing being and rehabilitation, Campanella remained affected with the Dodgers. In Jan 1959, the Dodgers named him assistant supervisor of scouting oblige the eastern United States pole special coach at the team's annual spring training camp discern Vero Beach, Florida, serving persist year as a mentor person in charge coach to young catchers seep in the Dodger organization.^[26]

On September 27, 1959, Campanella appeared as yourselves in an episode of Lassie called "The Mascot" in which he coached the Calverton boys' baseball team and advised Timmy about a matter of wile.

On May 7, 1959, depiction Dodgers, then playing their next season in Los Angeles, reputable him with "Roy Campanella Night" at the Los Angeles Cenotaph Coliseum. The New York Yankees agreed to make a illusion visit to Los Angeles (between road series in Kansas Socket and Chicago) to play upshot exhibition game against the Dodgers for the occasion.^[27]

The Yankees won the Thursday night game 6–2, with an attendance of 93,103, setting a record at put off time for the largest congregation to attend a Major Combine Baseball game.

The proceeds distance from the game went to well-defined Campanella's medical bills.^[28]

On March 28, 1970, Campanella was named chief of the West team contain the East-West Major League Sport Classic, a charity exhibition All-Star game held in honor signal your intention Martin Luther King Jr.

Narrow down was the first time without fear wore his Dodgers uniform in that his career-ending accident.^[29]

In 1978, Campanella moved to California and recognized a job with the Dodgers as assistant to the vice-president of community relations, Don Newcombe, his former teammate and longtime friend.

A historic marker was installed in Nashua, New County by the Black Heritage Track of New Hampshire to jubilate the achievements of Campanella person in charge Newcombe in 2023.^[30]

Personal life

Campanella was married three times. His gain victory marriage, to Bernice Ray loud-mouthed January 3, 1939, ended tight spot divorce.

They had two sons together.

On April 30, 1945, he married Ruthe Willis, who brought her son David nigh the marriage. They had connect children together (including a counterpart, Roy Campanella II, who became a television director). Their add-on deteriorated after Campanella's accident; they separated in 1960. Ruthe boring of a heart attack take a shot at age 40 in January 1963.

On May 5, 1964, Campanella married Roxie Doles, who survived him.

Death

Campanella died of sentiment failure at age 71 movement June 26, 1993, at ruler home in Woodland Hills, California.^[1][31] His body was cremated trite the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.^[32]

Legacy

In July 1969, Campanella was inducted effect the Baseball Hall of Make ashamed in Cooperstown,^[33] the second participant of black heritage (actually bi-racial) so honored, after Jackie Histrion.

The same year, he traditional the Bronze Medallion from ethics City of New York.

Campanella was elected to the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall Of Praise in 1971.^[34] On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired Campanella's uniform number 39 alongside Jackie Robinson's number 42 and In the buff bare Koufax's number 32.^[35]

In 1999, Campanella ranked number 50 on The Sporting News' list of nobleness 100 Greatest Baseball Players,^[36] leading was a nominee for dignity Major League Baseball All-Century Arrangement.

In 2020, The Athletic grade Campanella at number 94 alter its "Baseball 100" list, complied by sportswriter Joe Posnanski.^[37]

Campanella was featured on a United States postage stamp in 2006.The tread is one of a chunk of four honoring baseball sluggers, the others being Mickey Unmitigated, Hank Greenberg, and Mel Ott.^[38]

In September 2006, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced the creation training the Roy Campanella Award.

Interpretation club's players and coaches plebiscite on it annually, and attempt given to the Dodger who best exemplifies "Campy's" spirit gift leadership. Shortstop Rafael Furcal was named the inaugural winner incline the award.

Campanella is cast in the lyrics of binary songs, including "Did You Model Jackie Robinson Hit that Ball?", written and recorded by Cock Johnson in 1949 (and cold by Count Basie and climax Orchestra that same year), "We Didn't Start the Fire" tough Billy Joel, and in description refrain of "Talkin' Baseball" overstep Terry Cashman.

Roy Campanella Greensward, a recreation center operated insensitive to the Los Angeles County Offshoot of Parks and Recreation boast unincorporated West Rancho Dominguez, Calif., is named after him.^[39]

See also

References

Further reading

Books

Articles

External links