Roy Campanella

Baseball Player

• Born: November 19, 1921
• Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Died: June 26, 1993
• Place of death: Woodland Hills, California

Sport: Baseball

Early Life

Roy Campanella was born on November 19, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Roy’s father was a hardworking vegetable vendor who kept his family adequately fed even during the Great Depression. Roy helped out by working a milk route and selling newspapers. He recalled later that he never owned a baseball mitt as a child. This was not only because of the cost, but because Roy’s father thought that baseball was too dangerous. Roy’s mother was a devout Baptist and a homemaker, and Roy had an older brother and two older sisters.

In 1928, the Campanella family moved to the Nicetown section of Philadelphia. Nicetown was an ethnically diverse, working-class neighborhood. Because Roy’s father was of Italian descent and his mother was African American, he was subject to racial taunts, but this did not alter Roy’s enthusiastic outlook on life. He fought when he had to, but also made plenty of friends. Mostly he played, watched, and dreamed about baseball.

The Road to Excellence

Although Roy’s father once made him promise not to play baseball anymore, Roy was unable to keep his promise. Baseball—and the art of catching—had too strong a hold over him. At first, Roy played pick-up games, often against much older competition. His nose was once broken when he caught without a mask because the only one available was too big for him. In 1934, when he was twelve, Roy got a chance to play on an organized team. The team was sponsored by the Philadelphia Independent, an African American newspaper. Roy did not get to catch much, but he was not discouraged. When he was fourteen, one of Roy’s teachers told him that he had the talent to go far either in college or professional baseball.

In the summer of 1936, Roy caught for the Nicetown Giants, the senior team of the neighborhood’s Colored Athletic Club. In 1937, he was approached by Tom Dixon of the Bacharach Giants, a black semiprofessional team in the Philadelphia area. Dixon offered Roy a chance to play a better brand of baseball for pay. Reluctantly, Roy’s parents allowed him to travel with the team. Dixon helped Roy to fit in with older teammates and encouraged him to aim high in life. Before the summer was over, Roy was offered a monthly salary to play with the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro National League. At the age of fifteen, he had made it to the big leagues.

The Emerging Champion

Roy was not yet a polished player. Biz Mackey, manager and first-string catcher of the Elite Giants, refined Roy’s throwing technique, getting him to release the ball quickly without overthrowing. The legendary Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays also helped Roy to throw more accurately. Ironically, Mackey was soon traded so that Roy could catch full time. Except for a short period when he played in Mexico, Roy stayed with the Elite Giants through 1945, playing in the United States during the summer, then migrating south to play, and sometimes manage, in Mexico or Puerto Rico during the winter. Roy had become one of the top players in the league, a strong hitter and exceptional defensive catcher. Despite his rotund appearance—he was 5 feet 9 inches and 200 pounds—Roy had advanced as far in professional ball as an African American at that time was allowed.

In 1946, Branch Rickey, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, took steps toward integrating Major League Baseball. The first player he signed was Jackie Robinson, who began with Montreal, a AAA farm team in the International League, and made it to the Dodgers in 1947. Roy also signed in 1946, taking a substantial cut in pay to prove himself all over again in the minor leagues. He started at Nashua in the Class B New England League, becoming a favorite of manager Walter Alston. In 1947, he moved up to Montreal. Roy was clearly ready for the major leagues in 1948, but Rickey wanted him to integrate the American Association, another AAA league. By the end of the season, however, Roy was the Dodgers’ starting catcher.

In 1948, the Dodgers finished a strong third and emerged as one of the finest teams in baseball history during the 1949 season. The team won the pennant that year and again in 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956. No one was more important to these great Dodger teams than Roy. He provided a potent right-handed bat and was as good defensively as any catcher around. Along with the shortstop, Pee Wee Reese, “Campy” became a team leader.

Sportswriters recognized Roy’s contribution to the Dodger dynasty by electing him most valuable player in the National League in 1951, 1953, and 1955. In 1953, Roy had one of the best individual seasons ever by a major-league catcher, setting new records for the position in home runs and RBI. His numbers were not as good in 1955, but that was the year the Dodgers franchise finally won its first World Series, the only one it won in Brooklyn. In addition, Roy had come back from an injury-filled year in 1954 to help Walter Alston triumph in his second year as the Dodger manager. At this point, Roy was a key player on the best baseball team in the world. He had aimed high and hit the mark.

Continuing the Story

In 1956, Roy was once again bothered by hand and knee injuries. The Dodgers won the pennant anyway, but lost to the Yankees in a hard-fought World Series. Following the 1957 season, it was announced by Walter O’Malley, the new owner of the team, that the Dodgers were moving to Los Angeles. Dodgers fans were heartbroken. An era had come to an end. So, too, had Roy’s baseball career. On January 28, 1958, Roy lost control of his car on an icy curve near his home on Long Island. The car hit a pole and turned over, and Roy’s neck was broken. Although doctors were able to save his life, he never walked again, let alone played ball. Still, Roy was not beaten. He struggled to make as full a recovery as possible and ultimately wrote one of the most inspiring sport autobiographies, It’s Good to Be Alive (1959).

In 1969, Roy was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He continued to make appearances at ball games where, if not for his accident, he could have been a manager or coach. Instead, he came to embody the strength and perseverance of the human spirit.

Summary

Roy Campanella was one of the greatest all-around catchers in baseball history. Defensively, he was an agile receiver with a powerful and accurate throwing arm. He also handled pitchers skillfully and called a smart game. On offense, Roy put together several magnificent seasons despite the physical wear and tear of catching. Roy was also a pioneer of racial integration in the United States. By helping to bring down organized baseball’s color barrier, he contributed to an important shift in the national mood with regard to civil rights. Finally, Roy will be remembered for his resilience following his 1958 automobile accident.

Bibliography

Campanella, Roy. It’s Good to Be Alive. Boston: Little, Brown, 1959. Reprint. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.

Freedman, Lew. African American Pioneers of Baseball: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007.

Goodwin, Doris Kearns. “True Confession.” Sports Illustrated 87, no. 12 (September 22, 1997): 1-4.

James, Bill. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York: Free Press, 2003.

Shatzkin, Mike, Stephen Holtje, and Jane Charlton, eds. The Ballplayers: Baseball’s Ultimate Biographical Reference. New York: Ideal Logic Press, 1999.