Roy Campanella was an eight-time All-Star catcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers over 10 years (1948-57). He was just 36 years old when a car crash on Jan. 28, 1958 – days before he was scheduled to leave for Spring Training – left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. The Dodgers had moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles the previous fall, thus setting the stage for what Campanella hoped would be a career revival on the West Coast. Instead, Campanella spent most of 1958 in and out of rehabilitation clinics, regaining some use of his hands over time. Campanella, who was named the league’s MVP in 1951, 1953 and 1955 and played on five pennant winners in eight seasons, had even hit two home runs and drove in four runs to lead the Dodgers to the World Series title in 1955.
On May 7, 1959, the Dodgers hosted a special exhibition game against the New York Yankees honoring their former teammate. “Roy Campanella Night” drew a record crowd of 93,103 fans to the Los Angeles Coliseum to pay tribute to the Dodgers’ hero. The game was won by New York, 6-2. For the record crowd – the largest documented gathering for a baseball game to that point in time – it was a reminder of the great Dodgers vs. Yankees battles of the 1940s and 1950s that featured Campanella behind the plate.
This lot boasts a beautiful trophy that was awarded to Campanella’s battery mate, Don Drysdale, for participating in the game, the proceeds of which went to offset Campanella’s rising medical costs. The trophy, which includes a wooden base, measures 14” wide by seven inches high and includes a specially engraved, silver-finish bowl that reads: “YANKEE-DODGER GAME in Honor of ROY CAMPANELLA May 7th, 1959 Los Angeles Coliseum. A silver plaque on top of the base is engraved: “LOS ANGELES EXAMINER AWARD PRESENTED TO DON DRYSDALE WITH SINCERE APPRECIATION FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE YANKEE-DODGER GAME.” A specially crafted silver-finish baseball completes the top of the trophy base and includes a facsimile autograph of Campanella on one of the side panels.
Includes LOA from the Drysdale Family.