Athletes - Roy Campanella

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	Athletes - Roy Campanella

Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 - June 26, 1993) was an American catcher in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball.

He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was of Italian descent; his mother was African American, so he was barred from Major League Baseball until, in 1947, African-American or players of color players were admitted to the major leagues.

He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) from 1948 to 1957, as their regular catcher. In 1948 he had three different uniform numbers (33, 39, and 56) before settling down to number 39 for the rest of his career.

His first game was on April 20, 1948.

He played in the All-Star Game every year from 1949 to 1956.

He received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the National League three times: in 1951, 1953, and 1955. He was in tenth place in the MVP voting in 1952.

In 1953, he hit 40 home runs in games in which he appeared as a catcher, a record that lasted until 1996, when it was broken by Todd Hundley.

He was disabled after an automobile accident in January 1958 and was confined to a wheelchair.

In 1969 Roy Campanella was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the second player (of) African American heritage so honored after Jackie Robinson. On June 4, 1972 the Dodgers retired his uniform number 39 alongside Jackie Robinson (42) and Sandy Koufax (32).

He died in Woodland Hills, California and was interred in the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

His widow Roxie died in 2004.

In 1999, he ranked number 50 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

In 2006, Campanella will be featured on a United States postage stamp . The stamp is one of a block of four honoring Baseball Sluggers.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Roy Campanella ]

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Athletes - Roy Campanella

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