Roy Campanella

High school

Simon Gratz High School

Pro team(s)

Brooklyn Dodgers

Hall of Fame

⭐ National Baseball Hall of Fame

Roy Campanella was born on November 19, 1921, in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of an Italian father and African American mother. He attended Simon Gratz High School in North Philadelphia, where he caught for the school team, and signed with the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro National League at the age of 15 — spending nine seasons in the Negro Leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Campanella joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948 and immediately became one of the finest catchers the game had ever seen: powerful behind the plate, an outstanding handler of pitchers, and a dangerous right-handed hitter. He won three National League MVP awards (1951, 1953, 1955), led the Dodgers to six pennants and the 1955 World Series championship — Brooklyn's only championship — and set a single-season home run record for catchers (41 in 1953) that stood for decades. On January 28, 1958, his car skidded on an icy road in Glen Cove, New York, and the resulting crash left him permanently paralyzed from the shoulders down. He was 36 years old. A night game held in his honor at the Los Angeles Coliseum on May 7, 1959 drew 93,103 fans — the largest crowd ever to attend a baseball game. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. Attended Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.