Roy Campanella interview
Date1987 July 24
DescriptionTwo audio cassettes featuring an interview with Roy Campanella conducted by Rod Roberts on behalf of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on July 24, 1987 in Cooperstown, New York.
Object numberHF-1994-0001-015
Interviewer
Roberts, Rod
Interviewee
Campanella, Roy, 1921-1993
Subject
Campanella, Roy, 1921-1993
Classificationsaudio/visual materials
Library Call NumberCTA 767
Collection NumberBA RMA 001 Rod Roberts oral history collection
Library Call NumberCTA 766
Dimensions2 audio cassettes
TrannscriptionCassette 1 Side One -- Track 1 - Born Nov. 19, 1921 in Philadelphia; lived in Nicetown in North Philadelphia near Shibe Park; father John Campanella was Italian, died at 93; Roy youngest of four, two boys and two girls; father was born in U.S., his parents were from Palermo, Sicily; mother was from Maryland, maiden name was Mercer; family was very close as an inter-racial family; never knew what a half-breed was until someone called him the name; family always had dinner together and breakfast together on Saturday and Sunday; each child learned a blessing (00:00:00 to 00:03:55) Track 2 - Neighborhood was integrated; went to (?) elementary school; Gillespie Junior High and Simon Gratz High School; right across the street was Nicetown Boys Club, and the club had two baseball fields and a soccer field (00:03:55 to 00:04:57) Track 3 - On older brother being athletic; family members (00:04:57 to 00:06:04) Track 4 - On finishing third year of high school; in his first year of high school, owners of the Washington Elite Giants of the Negro League asked his parents if he could play for them on the weekends, parents said he had to go to school, Baptist church and Sunday school on Sundays; Philadelphia as a Quaker city was closed on Sundays; Giants heard about him via word-of-mouth, Biz Mackey heard about him; offered his parents $30-$35 if he could play on the weekends; team picked him up and dropped him off so he could go to school on Monday (00:06:04 to 00:11:22) Track 5 - On being big for his age; playing other sports, track and field, 100-yard-dash, long jump, relay team; teacher suggested he go out for baseball team, became the catcher for high school, he would pitch when it got dark; played American Legion ball at 14; playing at Baker Bowl, he could hit the ball up in the stands, or off the right field wall; players Chuck Klein, Dolph Camilli, Don Hurst (00:11:22 to 00:14:31) Track 6 - Playing with the Bacharach Giants; travel by bus; a lot of good semi-pro teams: Brooklyn Bushwicks, Barton Nighthawks, Bay Ridge, (?) Farmers, Springfield Grays; some with great players, even Major League players who could make more money working for the mill and playing for the mill team; Mexican League in 1941-45, during the War years, Major League ballplayers playing: Sal Maglie, Danny Gardella, Mickey Owen, Luis Olmo, Max Lanier, pitcher (?) White; Campanella played in Mexican League for the Monterrey Sultans and won championship in '44; played for the Negro League in 1945; moved into the Brooklyn Dodgers farm club Nashua Dodgers in 1946; Jackie Robinson played with the Montreal Royals; enjoyed Monterrey fans and weather (00:14:31 to 00:19:58) Track 7 - On Baltimore Giants, big man Bill Wright, a switch hitter and fast runner (similar to Dave Parker); center fielder Henry Kimbro; Zollie Wright, first base Jim West; second base Sammy T. Hughes; shortstop Pee Wee Butts, one of the best in the Negro League; third base was manager Felton Snow; George Scales a good curveball hitter; catching Biz Mackey and Campanella and Nish Williams; four of best pitchers Bill Byrd, Andrew Porter, Bob Griffith and Thomas Lovelle (?) (00:19:58 to 00:23:13) Track 8 - On Negro League players always getting paid; never needing a contract; expenses being paid; never getting stranded; Campanella started in 1937 and played through 1945, except for ‘43-;44 when he was in Mexican League; Campanella playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Venezuela; bat boy was Luis Aparicio, Aparicio's father was the shortstop; Campanella teasing Aparicio about making him feel like an old man when Aparicio was inducted into the Hall of Fame (00:23:13 to 00:25:30) Track 9 - On Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson being best players; Gibson best hitter of any color; Buck Leonard close to him; pitchers throwing spitballs, emery ball; Oscar Charleston was manager of the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1937; also saw Pop Lloyd play first base; played against Martin Dihigo, best Cuban ballplayer ever seen (00:25:30 to 00:28:52) Track 10 - Didn't realize when he was younger that blacks couldn't play in the Major Leagues; Philadelphia Athletics had a great team: Lefty Grove, George Earnshaw, Rube Walberg, Jimmie Foxx, Max Bishop, Eric McNair, Jimmy Dykes, Doc Cramer, Al Simmons, Bob Johnson, Ed Coleman, Mickey Cochrane; one of best teams, so did Yankees (tape runs out) (00:28:52 to 00:30:29) Side Two -- Track 1 - On Gil Hodges, (Jackie) Robinson, (Pee Wee) Reese and (Billy) Cox being the best infield, defensively all lead the field, offensively all good hitters as well; outfield had (Carl) Furillo, (Duke) Snider, Gene Hermanski, Andy Pafko, (Sandy) Amoros, Dick Williams; lost Roberto Clemente from the Montreal farm team to Pittsburgh, he would have made a difference to the Dodgers, maybe wouldn't have lost those World Series to the Yankees; Campanella very proud of being in the World Series five years out of 10 (00:00:00 to 00:02:39) Track 2 - On Furillo haa good arm and being very accurate; Monte Irvin and Clemente also had good arms and accuracy; a Mexican player (Epitacio) La Mala Torres who had as good an arm and was as accurate as Furillo, played with him for two seasons, left-handed hitter, didn't want to come to the U.S., Washington Senators wanted him; a lot of catchers have good arms but don't have good accuracy; nobody can outrun a baseball if the catcher does his job; Campanella still a coach and goes to spring training with the Dodgers ever year and tells catchers how to throw; players don't steal home like they used to: Jackie (Robinson) stole home 7-8 times a season; Rod Carew stole home 7 times in a season (00:02:39 to 00:07:39) Track 3 - On Arky Vaughan; advising Campanella to always be ready for the pitcher's fastest pitch (00:07:39 to 00:08:32) Track 4 - On people giving advice to Campanella when he moved up to the Majors; playing under Biz Mackey as a catcher was a real education in catching; good catcher can help a team tremendously, help the pitcher; getting advice from Pee Wee Reese and Gil Hodges; Branch Rickey couldn't have hand-picked a better group of guys to be the first integrated team in the Major Leagues and that is why they were so successful for 10 years (00:08:32 to 00:10:27) Track 5 - On getting a hard time from the rest of the league but Campanella tuned it out because he was concentrating on the pitcher and the game; heard it when he came up to bat; on racism and segregation in baseball; Jackie (Robinson) and Campanella couldn't stay with the team in Philadelphia; in St. Louis, they couldn't eat in the dining room; on black self-segregation among college students (00:10:27 to 00:15:16) Track 6 - On biggest thrills in baseball on when the Washington Elite Giants asked his parents if he could play with them when he was only 15; and getting opportunity to put on the Dodger uniform; playing on the Dodgers World Championship team; being Most Valuable Player three times; leading the league in runs-batted-in, first catcher to do that; being first catcher to hit 40 home runs; first catcher to score over 100 runs; getting along with teammates and the pitching staff; proud of catching in over 100 games every season; after he broke his neck, Dodgers paid tribute to him in Los Angeles and had 93,000 people at an exhibition baseball game, largest crowd ever for an exhibition game, after the game Walter O'Malley gave him a check for $50,000 and continued to pay his salary; Peter O'Malley also kept him on the Dodgers payroll (00:15:16 to 00:19:52) Track 7 - On being part of a great defensive play, when Dodgers were playing the Cardinals, (Ralph) Branca was having a tough inning and Campanella and Pee Wee Reese picked two men off of second base in the same inning (00:19:52 to 00:21:02) Track 8 - On Amoros making a big catch in the World Series; had replaced (Jim) Gilliam, who might have made the catch or not; interviewer Roberts talking about (Ken) Griffey (Jr.) climbing the wall to make a catch; (Willie) Mays catch in the World Series (00:21:02 to 00:23:06) Track 9 - In changes in the game, Astroturf the biggest change, along with indoor stadiums; Astroturf making a huge difference in ground-hit balls; umpires not changed (00:23:06 to 00:24:39) Track 10 - On best pitchers to handle, Preacher Roe, Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, (Bud) (?,) (Clem) Labine, all pitchers with good control; in All-Star Games, Robin Roberts, (Sal) Maglie, Larry Jansen, Warren Spahn, (Ewell) Blackwell; hitting against Satchel Paige, a super pitcher in a class by himself, had great control and could throw harder than many; played with Joe Black in Negro League (00:24:39 to 00:27:05) Track 11 - On blacks being under-represented in management; eventually it will change when they want to do it and stand behind it; qualified people are there, just need opportunity; not a simple decision, baseball is a big business and everyone wants to win (tape runs out) (00:27:05 to 00:30:36) Cassette 2 Side One -- Track 1 - On being in a motorized wheelchair, avoiding stairs; using a van with a lift; going to all of the Dodgers 81 home games, makes him feel he hasn't lost a thing; learned how to live with the wheelchair; having someone to depend on when you can't do things for yourself (00:00:00 to 00:05:08) Track 2 - On feeling good about baseball, what baseball has done for him and his family; other people's families; baseball industry providing jobs and having a ripple effect; Campanella very proud to be in the Hall of Fame; can't understand why younger players in the Hall of Fame don't bother to come to Cooperstown; players should give back to baseball (00:05:08 to 00:07:59) Track 3 - On salaries, helping bump up the salary level by generating interest and excitement in baseball; Campanella just turned 65 and was one of the first players to get in the Players' Pension Fund, started in 1946, life insurance policy dropped from $75,000 to $25,000 when he turned 65, a rule that should be changed; when he broke his neck, the maximum insurance was $7,500, when (Walter) O'Malley found out, he lobbied to have the maximum increased; on recent players strike and players voting that retired players prior to 1970 were not due an increase, but these are the people that need an increase (00:7:59 to 00:13:45) Track 4 - On 1987 Dodgers team; bringing players up to the Majors; having so many teams that they don't have enough talent (00:13:45 to 00:15:20) Track 5 - On Campanella being older when moving up to the Majors, knowing every aspect of the game, knowing how to bunt; pitchers not knowing how to cover first base; (Steve) Sax losing his ability to throw; catchers not being able to get to second base; interviewer Roberts telling story about Dale Murphy; Campanella on not being able to play in the Negro League without being able to throw and play every day (00:15:20 to 00:18:38) Track 6 - On Campanella's up and down record; winning Most Valuable Player every other year; hitting over .300 every other year; hands get banged up catching; (Allie) Reynolds hit him in the World Series and broke his hand, next season having his lowest batting average; wanting to help the team win by communicating with the pitcher (00:18:38 to 00:20:51) Track 7 - On staying healthy, in spite of being in a wheelchair for 30 years; exercising with pulleys; needing to have an attendant carry him; wanting to stay healthy for his family; keeping a positive attitude; visiting hospitals to talk to other paralyzed people, getting requests to speak through Dodgers Community Relations department; Peter O'Malley a wonderful person, just like his father; helped Jackie (Robinson) and Don Newcombe; first to integrate the team and it was done right; Dodgers had blacks in the front office for years (00:20:51 to 00:25:52) Track 8 - On Al Campanis and controversial racist remarks to Ted Koppel on Nightline; Newcombe was supposed to be on the show but wasn't; Newcombe played for Newark in the Negro League, with Monte Irvin, Larry Doby, and Ray Dandridge; team was owned and run by Effa Manley and her husband Abe; other good players, Max Manning, Leniel Hooker, (Jimmy?) Hill, Dandridge, (Willie?) Wells, (?) Dixie, (Mules?), (Jimmie) Crutchfield, Lenny Pearson, (Leon?) Ruffin (tape runs out) (00:25:52 to 00:30:32) Side Two -- Track 1 - On learning how to throw properly; (Biz) Mackie teaching him the fine points of catching (00:00:00 to 00:00:37) Track 2 - Best team in the Negro League the Homestead Grays, with Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard; also Kansas City Monarchs, Pittsburgh Crawfords, with Satchel (Paige) pitching; in 1937 dictator (Rafael) Trujillo took nearly the whole Crawfords team to Santo Domingo to play: Crawfords had Cool Papa (Bell,) Oscar Charleston, Johnny Washington, Judy Johnson, Chester (Chet?) Williams (00:00:37 to 00:02:18) Track 3 - On Campanella not following baseball before he started to play (00:02:18 to 00:03:05)" Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. 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