Roy Campanella

Roy Campanella
Birthdate 11/19/1921
Death Date 6/26/1993
Debut Year 1948
Year of Induction 1969
Teams Dodgers
Position Catcher

Roy Campanella was an eight-time All Star and three-time National League Most Valuable Player during his ten-year big league career.

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In the collection:

Campanella played parts of 8 seasons in the National Negro League before his Dodger days

Campanella played parts of 8 seasons in the National Negro League before his Dodger days

Roy Campanella played parts of eight seasons in the Negro Leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. According to Baseball Reference, Campy hit .322 in the National Negro League. Campanella followed Robinson to the Dodgers, debuting in 1948 at age 26. The backstop played the next ten
The 1949 All Star Game featured African-American players for the first time

The 1949 All Star Game featured African-American players for the first time

Two years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier, Roy Campanella joined him, Don Newcombe, and Larry Doby in the 1949 All Star Game. The contest marked the first integrated Mid Summer Classic in baseball history. Jackie started at second base with Campy coming off the bench at ca
Campanella had a dream season in 1955 as NL MVP and World Series champion

Campanella had a dream season in 1955 as NL MVP and World Series champion

Roy Campanella had a stellar 1955 season, solidifying his legacy as one of baseball’s all-time great catchers. He hit 32 home runs and drove in 107 runs, boasting an impressive slash line of .318/.395/.583. This remarkable performance earned him his second MVP award, following his first in 195

A Story about Roy Campanella

Absent from Cooperstown, former Cy Young and MVP Don Newcombe made a US President’s Hall of Fame

August 4th, 2015 Leave a comment

Don Newcombe’s baseball resume reads like a history lesson, spanning from the pre-integration era of the 1940s to the present day. The first player to win Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player awards, “Newk” won 20 games and hit .359 in the Brooklyn Dodgers’ only championship season. Despite his accomplishments, Newcombe never received more than 15.3% of the writers’ vote in elections for Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Though Cooperstown has yet to beckon, Newcombe may very well be in a more prestigious Hall of Fame — one that requires presidential approval for admission. To understand the accomplishments that warrant inclusion into such a Hall of Fame, one must peer into Newcombe’s groundbreaking baseball experiences. Two seasons after beginning his professional baseball career with the Negro Leagues’ Newark Eagles, Newcombe played for the Nashua Dodgers, America’s first racially integrated baseball team since the color line was drawn in 1888. By 1949, Newcombe, with teammates Jackie Robinson, and Roy Campanella, and Cleveland outfielder Larry Doby was among the first African-Americans to be named to a Major League All-Star team. Apparently aware of Newcombe’s role in breaking baseball’s color line, it was President Obama himself who included Newcombe in the White House Hall […]

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2 responses to “Roy Campanella”

  1. Aaron says:

    These individuals introduced me to the game of baseball.I was 10 years of age when I knew that I wanted to play the game. I will airways remember all of those guys.

  2. JOHN ROSENER says:

    DON’T FORGET – CAMPANELLA THREW OUT 58% OF ATTEMPTED BASE STEALERS. HIGHEST % IN BB HISTORY…..

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"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball…"

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