Roy Campanella American baseball player, famous catcher Date of Birth: 19.11.1921 Country: USA

Biography of Roy Campanella

Roy Campanella was an American baseball player and a renowned catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was born on November 19, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. His father was an Italian immigrant, while his mother had African American heritage. Due to racial segregation, Campanella did not have the opportunity to play in the Major League Baseball until 1947.

Since childhood, Campanella had a passion for baseball. At the age of fifteen, he played for the Washington Elite Giants, a team in the Negro Baseball League. In 1942, he moved to Mexico and joined the Sultanes of Monterrey, a team in the Mexican Baseball League.

In 1946, Campanella was invited to join the Brooklyn Dodgers, a team that was then playing in the minor league. When the team performed well that season, with Campanella's contribution, the question of their transition to the Major League arose. Campanella, along with another African American baseball player, Don Newcombe, met with Nashua Dodgers, the chairman of the Major League Baseball committee. They strongly advocated for racial integration in the league and the inclusion of African American players. Nashua Dodgers, favorably disposed towards the Brooklyn Dodgers team due to the similarity of their names, agreed to their request.

In 1948, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the first team in baseball history to field African American players in an official game. Roy Campanella was one of them. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1948 to 1957 and was selected to the All-Star team eight times. Campanella's baseball career was cut short by a tragic accident. On January 28, 1958, he was involved in a car crash on an icy road, resulting in a severe injury. He fractured his 5th and 6th cervical vertebrae, and the left side of his body was paralyzed.

Over time, with massage and physical therapy, Campanella gradually began to recover. In 1969, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1971, he was also honored in the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame. Roy Campanella was married three times. He had two daughters from his first marriage with Bernis Ray, which lasted from 1939 to 1942. He had three children with Ruth Willis, whom he was married to from 1945 to 1958.

After the car accident, Campanella married his caregiver, Roxie Doles, who supported him throughout the rest of his life. Roy Campanella passed away on June 26, 1993, in Woodland Hills, California, from a heart attack.