Catcher, Brooklyn
Dodgers
Age: 29
4th season
with Dodgers
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’9” Weight: 190
Prior to 1951:
The product of
an interracial marriage and a native of Philadelphia, Campanella played
football and basketball, as well as baseball, in school. A fine ballplayer he
signed with the semipro Bacharach Giants at age 15 in 1937 to play on weekends.
His good performance caught the attention of the Baltimore Elite Giants of the
Negro National League who signed him to back up at catcher on weekends while he
continued his schooling. After spending the summer barnstorming with the Elite Giants
he quit school at 16 to play baseball full-time. He became the regular catcher
for the Elite Giants in 1939 and batted .273. Campanella stayed with the team
until 1942 when he jumped to the Monterrey Sultans of the Mexican League due to
a contract dispute. With a low draft status during 1942 due to his being
married with two young children, he was never called to military service and
stayed with Monterrey through the 1943 season before returning to the Elite
Giants for two years. Chosen to catch for a black all-star team that played a
series of exhibition games against a team made up of major leaguers in
Brooklyn. Coming to the attention of the Dodgers as a result, Campanella was
signed in 1946. Originally slated to play in the Class B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa
League, he was rejected because the league refused to integrate. Instead
assigned to Nashua of the Class B New England League, Campanella took a pay cut
from the $600 per month that he was paid by the Elite Giants to $185 per month
to compete against far less experienced players. Campanella distinguished
himself by hitting .290 with 13 home runs and 90 RBIs and was chosen as the league’s
MVP. In 1947 with Jackie Robinson integrating the NL with the Dodgers,
Campanella was assigned to the Montreal Royals of the Class AAA International
League and batted .273 with 13 home runs and 75 RBIs. With Brooklyn already in
possession of an outstanding catcher in Bruce Edwards, the plan for 1948 was to
keep Campanella in the minors. Edwards suffered an arm injury before the season
and Campanella started the year with the Dodgers as a backup to Gil Hodges, who
filled in behind the plate for Edwards. Campanella was sent down to St. Paul of
the Class AAA American Association in May where he went on a tear, hitting .325
with 13 home runs and 39 RBIs over the course of 35 games before he was
recalled to Brooklyn. The Dodgers were struggling in seventh place at the point
that Campanella returned in July. Hodges was moved to first base and Jackie
Robinson to second and the team rallied to third place following Campanella’s installation
at catcher. In his time with the Dodgers he batted .258 with 9 home runs and 45
RBIs in 83 games. “Campy” followed up with a strong season in 1949, batting
.287 with 22 home runs and 82 RBIs. He was named an All-Star for the first time
and proved to be adept defensively, with great quickness despite his portly
build, leading all NL catchers in chances (750) and put outs (684) as well as
by throwing out 59% of baserunners who attempted to steal on him. He also
proved to be an adept handler of pitchers. Campanella produced a .281 batting
average in 1950 with 31 home runs and 89 RBIs. A broken thumb in September cost
him 11 games in which the Dodgers struggled on the way to finishing a close
second to the Phillies in the NL pennant race.
1951 Season Summary
Appeared in 143
games
C – 140, PH – 9
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 562
At Bats – 505
Runs – 90 [14]
Hits – 164 [12,
tied with Ralph Kiner]
Doubles – 33 [3,
tied with Jackie Robinson]
Triples – 1
Home Runs – 33
[3]
RBI – 108 [4,
tied with Stan Musial]
Bases on Balls
– 53
Int. BB – N/A
Strikeouts – 51
Stolen Bases – 1
Caught Stealing
– 2
Average - .325
[4]
OBP - .393 [7,
tied with Richie Ashburn]
Slugging Pct. -
.590 [3]
Total Bases – 298
[4]
GDP – 19 [6,
tied with Pee Wee Reese]
Hit by Pitches
– 4 [13, tied with seven others]
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – N/A
Midseason
snapshot: HR – 10, RBI – 38, AVG – .326, SLG PCT – .508
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 4 AB) vs. Bos. Braves 5/25, (in 5 AB) vs. Bos. Braves 5/26, (in 4 AB)
vs. Bos. Braves 9/3, (in 4 AB) vs. Phila. Phillies 9/23
Longest hitting
streak – 9 games
HR at home – 21
HR on road – 12
Most home runs,
game – 2 on five occasions
Multi-HR games
– 5
Most RBIs, game
– 5 on five occasions
Pinch-hitting –
3 of 8 (.375) with 1 HR & 2 RBI
Fielding
Chances – 805
Put Outs – 722
Assists – 72
Errors – 11
DP – 12
Pct. - .986
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
All-Star (Started
for NL at C)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Roy Campanella,
Brook.: 243 pts. - 11 of 24 first place votes, 72% share
Stan Musial,
St.LC.: 191 pts. – 2 first place votes, 57% share
Monte Irvin,
NYG.: 166 pts. – 5 first place votes, 49% share
Sal Maglie, NYG.:
153 pts. – 1 first place vote, 46% share
Preacher Rowe,
Brook.: 138 pts. – 2 first place votes, 41% share
(1 first place
vote apiece for Jackie Robinson, Brook., who ranked sixth, Bobby Thomson, NYG,
who ranked eighth & Murry Dickson, Pitt., who ranked ninth)
---
Dodgers went 96-58
to finish tied for first in the NL with the New York Giants, which necessitated
a season-extending best-of-3 playoff. The teams split the first two contests
but the Giants won the deciding game on Bobby Thomson’s walk-off home run. Campanella
sat out the last two games of the series with a leg injury as Brooklyn finished
second in the NL with a final record of 97-60. The Dodgers led the league in runs
scored (855), hits (1511), doubles (249), home runs (184), stolen bases (89), total
bases (2386), batting (.275), and batter strikeouts (649). The Dodgers
dominated the NL for most of the season and were 13.5 games in front on August
11. The slow-starting Giants put together a 16-game August winning streak and
went 20-5 in September to catch Brooklyn and force the climactic playoff.
Aftermath of ‘51:
Campanella
suffered through an injury-plagued season in 1952 and his batting average
dropped to .269 with 22 home runs and 97 RBIs. He rebounded strongly in 1953 to
hit 41 home runs with a league-leading 142 RBIs and batted .312, winning his
second NL MVP award as a result. A hand injury that required surgery
significantly marred Campanella’s 1954 performance. Appearing in only 111 games
he batted just .207 with 19 home runs and 51 RBIs. There was again a solid
rebound in 1955 as he won his third MVP award after hitting .318 with 32 home
runs and 107 RBIs. The Dodgers won the pennant and the ensuing World Series for
the first time in franchise history and Campanella contributed two home runs to
the effort. Hand and thumb injuries held him to 124 games in 1956 and his
production dropped to 20 home runs, 73 RBIs, and a .219 average in what was his
last All-Star season. Having had an offseason hand operation Campanella had another
down year in 1957, the last year for the Dodgers in Brooklyn. He appeared in
103 games and batted .242 with 13 home runs and 62 RBIs. In January of 1958 Campanella
was involved in a car accident in which he suffered a broken neck and spinal
cord damage that left him paralyzed from the chest down. For his major league
career, played entirely with the Dodgers, he batted .276 with 1161 hits that included
178 doubles, 18 triples, and 242 home runs. He also accumulated 856 RBIs. Campanella
was an eight-time All-Star as well as three-time National League MVP. The
Dodgers retired his #39 and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in
1969. The wheelchair-bound Campanella worked for the Dodgers in community
relations and as a special instructor during spring training and died at age 71
in 1993.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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