Catcher, Brooklyn
Dodgers
Age: 31
6th season
with Dodgers
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 5’9” Weight: 190
Prior to 1953:
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. He was 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 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. Despite
dealing with some injuries in 1951, Campanella contributed significantly to
Brooklyn taking a sizeable lead in the NL pennant race, which was whittled away
by a strong second-half surge by the New York Giants, resulting in a first-place
tie and a season-extending best-of-three playoff, which the Giants won in
dramatic fashion. Campanella sat out the last two playoff games due to a leg
injury. For the year he batted .325 with 33 home runs, 108 RBIs, a .393 on-base
percentage, and a .590 slugging percentage, and he received NL MVP recognition
for the first time. He suffered through an injury-plagued season in 1952 and
his batting average dropped to .269 with 22 home runs and 97 RBIs.
1953 Season Summary
Appeared in 144
games
C – 140, PH – 11
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 590
At Bats – 519
Runs – 103 [11]
Hits – 162
Doubles – 26 [16,
tied with Danny O’Connell]
Triples – 3
Home Runs – 41
[3]
RBI – 142 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 67 [14]
Int. BB – 13
[2, tied with Del Ennis, Del Rice & Billy Cox]
Strikeouts – 58
Stolen Bases – 4
[20, tied with four others]
Caught Stealing
– 2
Average - .312
[10]
OBP - .395 [7,
tied with Enos Slaughter]
Slugging Pct. -
.611 [3]
Total Bases – 317
[6]
GDP – 13 [19,
tied with five others]
Hit by Pitches
– 4 [11, tied with eight others]
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – N/A
League-leading
RBIs were +7 ahead of runner-up Eddie Mathews
Midseason
snapshot: 2B – 15, HR – 22, RBI – 73, AVG – .302, SLG – .601
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) vs. St. Louis Cards 7/18, (in 5 AB) vs. St. Louis Cards 8/30
Longest hitting
streak – 12 games
HR at home – 22
HR on road – 19
Most home runs,
game – 2 on five occasions
Multi-HR games
– 5
Most RBIs, game
– 6 at Cincinnati 8/8
Pinch-hitting – 5 for 11 (.455) with 3 R, 3 2B, 1 HR & 6 RBI
Fielding
Chances – 874
Put Outs – 807
Assists – 57
Errors – 10
Passed Balls –
3
DP – 9
Pct. - .989
Postseason
Batting: 6 G (World Series vs. NY Yankees)
PA – 25, AB – 22,
R – 6, H – 6, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 2, BB – 2, IBB – 1, SO – 3, SB – 0,
CS – 0, AVG - .273, OBP - .360, SLG - .409, TB – 9, GDP – 0, HBP – 1, SH – 0,
SF – N/A
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
All-Star (Started
for NL at C )
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Roy Campanella,
Brook.: 297 points - 17 of 24 first place votes, 88% share
Eddie Mathews,
Mil.: 216 points – 3 first place votes, 64% share
Duke Snider,
Brook.: 157 points – 1 first place vote, 47% share
Red
Schoendienst, StLC.: 155 points – 2 first place votes, 46% share
Warren Spahn,
Mil.: 120 points – 36% share
(1 first place
vote for Robin Roberts, PhilaP., who ranked sixth)
---
The Dodgers
went 105-49 to win the NL pennant by 13 games over the Milwaukee Braves, while
leading the league in runs scored (955), hits (1529), home runs (208), RBIs
(887), stolen bases (90), bases on balls drawn (655), batting (.285), OBP
(.366), slugging (.474), and total bases (2545). The Dodgers moved immediately
into contention and were 42-25 when they moved into first place to stay on June
28. Lost World Series to the New York Yankees, 4 games to 2.
Aftermath of 1953:
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 National 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment