- published: 02 Jan 2015
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Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily at the position of catcher, in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Widely considered to have been one of the greatest catchers in the history of the game, Campanella played for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1940s and 1950s, as one of the pioneers in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. His career was cut short in 1958 when he was paralyzed in an automobile accident.
Campanella's father John was the son of Sicilian immigrants. His mother Ida was African American. Therefore, he was barred from Major League Baseball before 1947, the season that black players were admitted to the Major Leagues for the first time since the 19th century. Campanella began playing Negro league baseball for the Washington Elite Giants in 1937, after dropping out of school on his sixteenth birthday. The Elite Giants would move to Baltimore the following year, and Campanella would go on to become a star player with the team.
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American baseball player who became the first black Major League Baseball (MLB) player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. As the first black man to play in the major leagues since the 1880s, he was instrumental in bringing an end to racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated black players to the Negro leagues for six decades. The example of his character and unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation, which then marked many other aspects of American life, and contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement.
In addition to his cultural impact, Robinson had an exceptional baseball career. Over ten seasons, he played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Championship. He was selected for six consecutive All-Star Games from 1949 to 1954, was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1997, Major League Baseball retired his uniform number, 42, across all major league teams.
Actors: Isaiah Washington (actor), Mykelti Williamson (actor), Blair Underwood (actor), Delroy Lindo (actor), Bob Minor (actor), Richard Riehle (actor), Jerry Hardin (actor), Edward Herrmann (actor), Jeff Coopwood (actor), Cylk Cozart (actor), R. Lee Ermey (actor), Obba Babatundé (actor), Guy Boyd (actor), Salli Richardson-Whitfield (actress), Edith Fields (actress),
Plot: Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson are the greatest players in the Colored leagues, and everyone expects that one of them will make the leap to the Major Leagues, now that there is talk of integration. But, unexpectedly, it's the rookie with the army record, Jackie Robinson, that gets tapped to be the first.
Keywords: african-american, baseball, baseball-movie, birmingham-alabama, black-romance, friendship, racialActors: John A. Martinelli (editor), Lee Sollenberger (miscellaneous crew), Len Lesser (actor), Michael Landon (director), John A. Martinelli (miscellaneous crew), Charles W. Fries (producer), Buck Young (actor), Matthew 'Stymie' Beard (actor), Louis Gossett Jr. (actor), Ruby Dee (actress), Michel Legrand (composer), Gerald W. Abrams (miscellaneous crew), Paul Winfield (actor), Andrew Solt (miscellaneous crew), Stuart Nisbet (actor),
Plot: The story of former Brooklyn Dodger catcher Roy Campanella, whose career was cut short when he lost the use of his legs in an auto accident in January of 1958.
Keywords: accident, baseball, based-on-book