Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella (review)

Neil Lanctot, author of Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution, has now given us Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella, a masterful biography of the Brooklyn Dodgers' Hall of Fame catcher. Lanctot contrasts Campy's life in baseball with his life after the catastrophic auto accident that left him paralyzed. Born in Philadelphia in 1921 to an Italian American father and an African American mother, Campy was catching with a black semipro team by age sixteen. Stolen away in 1937 by Biz Mackey of the Washington (later Baltimore) Elite Giants of the Negro National League, Campy honed his catching skills over the next nine years, playing against such stars as Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, the latter of whom he considered the greatest player he ever saw. Lanctot brilliantly describes Campy's Negro League days: frenetic scheduling, frequent doubleheaders, chaotic bus trips, minimal salaries, and the difficulties of eating and lodging in segregated America. In July and August of 1937, for example, the Elite Giants traveled 2800 miles across seven states, often eating and sleeping in their rickety bus.

World War II focused attention on discrimination, and major-league teams were pressured to give black players tryouts. Commissioner Landis and timorous owners hesitated to alter the color line, but Branch Rickey's arrival with the Brooklyn Dodgers proved pivotal. Rickey touted a new Negro league with a "Brown Dodgers" team, masking his intention to sign black ballplayers for the Dodgers. On October 23, 1945, Jackie Robinson was signed to play for Brooklyn's Montreal farm team. Campy caught Rickey's attention during an exhibition series between a black All Star team and a white team that included several Dodgers. Two days after the Robinson announcement, Campy signed to play for the Brown Dodgers "or any other club the Brooklyn organization might designate" (123). Campy later came to believe that with a higher Negro League profile, he, and not Robinson, could have broken the color barrier.

In 1946, Campy played for the Class B Nashua NH Dodgers managed by Walter Alston, and in 1947, while Robinson integrated the National League with his sensational Rookie of the Year season, Campy replaced him in Montreal. Enduring substantial racial baiting as the only black player in the International League, he batted .273, with 13 home runs and 75 RBI. Campy began the 1948 season with the Dodgers, but Rickey soon sent him to St. Paul to integrate the American Association. In his first seven home games there, Campy batted .538, hit 8 homers, and knocked in 24 runs. On June 30, 1948, he was called up to the Dodgers.

Lanctot brings to life Campy's career with the Dodgers-the pennant-winning years of 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956; the heart-breaking loss to Philadelphia on the final day in 1950; and the epic collapse against the Giants in 1951, punctuated by Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning home run. As a defensive catcher, Campy was unmatched, still holding the career record for throwing out base runners attempting to steal (57.4%). His handling of pitchers was extraordinary. Classic was his rebuke of Rex Barney, who shook off a sign and lost a no-hitter in the eighth inning: "Don't you ever shake me off again. You know I'm smarter than you are. And I've always been smarter than you are. And I'll always be smarter than you are. Pitchers don't know a Goddamn thing. That's why they have catchers" (171). Campy put up career years in 1951, 1953, and 1955, with averages of .325, .312, and .318; home run totals of 33, 41 (then a single-season record for a catcher), and 32; and RBI totals of 108, 142, and 107. In each of those years, Campy was voted National League MVP. The apotheosis came in 1955 when the Dodgers finally beat the Yankees in the World Series. In the deciding seventh game, Campy caught Johnny Podres...