Campy

An African-American pioneer in the national pastime, Roy Campanella is remembered as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history. Affectionately nicknamed “Campy,” he was beloved by teammates and fans alike. He joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946, one year after Jackie Robinson, and was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player three times. In 1955, he helped the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series. When the Dodgers’ management announced its plans to relocate the team to Los Angeles, there was little doubt Campanella would be joining his teammates on the West Coast.

Sadly, he would never get the chance play in the Dodgers’ new home. On January 28, 1958, Campanella’s car skidded off the road as he drove from his liquor store in Harlem to his house on Long Island. The accident left him a quadriplegic, effectively ending his baseball career. Despite the crushing blow, he maintained an optimistic attitude; during the decades that followed, he was a pioneer in rehabilitative physical therapy. Campy recounts the fascinating, inspiring story of the venerated Baseball Hall of Famer.

Sports historian Neil Lanctot follows Campanella from his days as a baseball-crazy kid to his history-making turn as one of major league baseball’s first African-American players, to his career-ending accident and subsequent rebirth as a spokesman for the handicapped. Lanctot reveals new details about Campanella’s accident, his family life and his relationship with Jackie Robinson, to whom he was frequently compared. As he shows, other than skin color, Robinson and Campanella had little in common. Born in Georgia, Robinson was raised in poverty by a single mother, whereas Campanella grew up in a nuclear family in a blue-collar section of Philadelphia.

From an early age, Campanella was drawn to sports. He spent many afternoons playing football and basketball but was most drawn to baseball. When he was 9, he started hanging around local ballparks, happy to serve as water boy for the men’s games. “With baseball then the king of the sports world, it was hardly a surprise that he embraced the game so fervently,” explains Lanctot. “But baseball also nourished his competitive drive, allowing him to experience the joy of winning, the thrill of seeing how far he could hit a ball, the elation in throwing it harder and farther than anyone else.”

Unable to play the game he loved, Campanella devoted himself to helping others. His courage and refusal to let his disability ruin his life made him an inspiration and hero to many who never saw him play baseball. Campanella’s was a life marked by tremendous highs and devastating lows. Campy brilliantly captures that life in full.