Stunning Roy Campanella Signed Large 12x14 Photo JSA COA
$2,995.00
Hall of Famer. Revered Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella has contributed a superlative blue ballpoint signature, along with a lengthy, personalized salutation, to the front presentation of this colorful illustration. In full, his handwriting reads, "'To Happy' / I will always remember you. / Sincerely / (signed) Roy Campanella." Campanella's quick smile, tireless work ethic, and dogged determination made him the heartbeat of the great Brooklyn Dodgers squads of the late 1940s and ’50s. "Campy" debuted at Ebbets Field in 1948, only one year after teammate Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and forever changed the face of Major League Baseball. The revered catcher's MLB career was delayed by the color barrier in his early years, and later curtailed by a tragic automobile accident in 1958, granting him only 10 professional seasons in Brooklyn. Campanella, however, packed a full career's worth of accolades into that short span. He won the National League MVP Award three times (1951, 1953, 1955), hitting better than .300 with 30 homers in each award-winning season, and his 57.4 caught-stealing percentage is the best in Major League history. A World Series Champion in 1955, Campanella was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969, and passed away in 1993 at the age of 71. Due to the effects of the car accident that ended his playing career, Campanella signatures like this one which are characterized by neatness and clarity are regarded as extremely desirable. (Although he continued signing until his passing, Campanella generally required assistance from a machine to execute his autograph and did so in somewhat lesser quantities than his contemporaries.) The offered example displays transparent adhesive stains that barely diminish the power of the great catcher's autograph. Francis J. "Happy" Felton (1907-64) hosted a "Knothole Gang" children's television program during the 1950s, a circumstance that led to his friendly acquaintanceship with a number of Brooklyn Dodgers players. LOA from JSA for the signature accompanies.
