For 10 seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Roy Campanella was one of the absolute best players in baseball. Along with Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, and Gil Hodges, Campanella helped the Dodgers to five National League pennants during his career, and the Dodgers only title in Brooklyn during the memorable 1955 campaign. Campanella won his third and final National League MVP award in 1955 after mashing 32 long balls, with 107 RBI and a fantastic .318 batting average despite missing a sizeable chunk of games due to injury. Tragically, Campanella was only able to play two more seasons in baseball before a car accident robbed him of his mobility, and left him confined to a wheelchair for the remaining years of his life. Undeterred by his unlucky break, Campanella remained a beloved figure both in New York and with the Dodgers, and became only the second African-American ballplayer inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

     This book was part of the “Most Valuable Player Series”, and is a biographical tale of Campanella written after his 1951 MVP season. It was written by Dick Young, and features numerous pages filled with rare photographs of Campanella during his outstanding, Hall of Fame career. Campanella signed the first page of this book in a sterling example of a highly sought after pre-accident signature. He inscribed “To Mrs. Bowen / Best Wishes” above his signature. The signature and inscription have been written in black pen. This item comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA.

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