Prior to Roy Campanella becoming a Brooklyn Dodgers legend, he starred for the Baltimore Elite Giants of the Negro Leagues. That’s the basis of a new bobblehead from FOCO, which was released as part of a series in conjunction with the MLB at Rickwood Field game on Thursday.
Campanella played in 233 games for the Giants over parts of eight seasons. His final year with the team was 1945, or three seasons before Campanella made his MLB debut with the Dodgers.
The new Campanella bobblehead features the Hall of Famer in the white Giants uniform and down in a catcher’s stance. Another wrinkle for the limited-edition item is the bobblehead was designed in a bighead form.
[BUY HERE: Roy Campanella bobblehead]
The Campanella bobblehead is limited to 144 units and won’t be restocked once quantities sell out.
MLB adding Negro Leagues statistics to their official record books provided Campanella with a boost in career totals. He benefitted from 274 additional hits being counted to him 1,435, and his 167 RBI increased his career total to 1,023.
Campanella earned All-Star Game selections, was a three-time National League MVP and played in five World Series over his 10-year career with the Dodgers. He helped Brooklyn win their first World Series in 1955. Campanella was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.
At the time just 35 years old, Campanella was involved in a car accident prior to the Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles in 1958. It paralyzed Campanella from the neck down, thus ending his career.
Dodgers honor Roy Campanella
The Dodgers celebrate their former catcher each season by giving out the Roy Campanella Award to one player from the team who best exemplifies his spirit and leadership. It’s voted on by Dodgers uniformed personnel (players and coaches).
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