Roy Campanella - Gone But Not Forgotten

Roy Campanella died of a heart attack near his home in Woodland Hills, California, on June 26, 1993. "As well as being a great baseball player," said Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda in Jet magazine, "he was a great human being." And, as former Dodger player and later San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker recalled in the Boston Globe, Campanella "was a guy who motivated me. He never complained. He would never alibi. Even though his body didn't function well, he was mentally as sharp as a tack. You could listen to him for hours and hours telling stories about baseball and life. Stories about Jack Robinson and Jim Gilliam and the Negro Leagues. He was just fascinating to be around." Campanella is survived by his wife Roxie and five children: Roy Jr., Anthony, John, Joni Roan, and Ruth Effort.