Roy Campanella – 
A 1950’s Baseball Great

by Guy Belleranti


Great baseball catchers who can both hit and play superb defense come along rarely. One of the best was Roy Campanella. 

Nicknamed “Campy” by fans, players and sportscasters, Roy Campanella was a unique man and ball player. His father was of Italian descent and his mother African American. He starred with the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro League from the late 1930’s to the mid 40’s. Then, in 1946, he moved into the Brooklyn Dodger’s minor league system as the team prepared to break the color barrier with Jackie Robinson. Robinson broke the barrier in April of 1947, and on April 20th of 1948 Roy Campanella became baseball’s first black catcher. 

Campanella was a star from the beginning. He handled pitchers expertly, was agile behind the plate and had a great throwing arm. He set a record for the most years in a row catching 100 or more games with 9 and led the National League catchers in fielding average during the 1949, 1952, 1953 and 1957 seasons. 

Campanella’s hitting was also strong. He batted over .300 three seasons, hit over 30 homeruns during four seasons (including 41 in 1953, a record for catchers that stood for many years) and won three National League Most Valuable Player awards (1951, 1953, and 1955).

Campanella was voted to the All-Star team every year from 1949 through 1956, and caught in five World Series. He also was the cover story in TIME Magazine’s August 8, 1955 edition. 

Then, in January of 1958, tragedy struck. Campanella hit a patch of ice while driving and skidded into a telephone pole. The accident left him paralyzed from the waist down and his days of baseball were over. 

But Roy Campanella certainly wasn’t forgotten. He helped fine tune many future catchers in the Dodger organization, and in 1969 both he and St Louis Cardinal great Stan Musial were inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. 

In 1991, Campanella and his wife, Roxie, founded The Roy and Roxie Campanella Physical Therapy Scholarship Foundation. This organization provides support for people living with spinal cord injuries and also funds scholarships for students pursuing education in physical therapy. 

Roy Campanella passed away on June 26, 1993 of a heart attack at the age of 71. He was without a doubt one of baseballs’ greatest catchers during the 1950’s and of all-time.

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