Adolph Louis Camilli (April 23, 1907 – October 21, 1997) was an American

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

who spent most of his career with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

. He was named the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a partic ...

in after leading the league in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the b ...

as the Dodgers won the pennant for the first time since 1920. He was the ninth National League player to hit 200 career home runs, and held the Dodgers franchise record for career home runs from 1942 to 1953. His son

Doug Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) which ...

was a major league

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...

in the 1960s."The Ballplayers – Dolf Camilli"
. ''baseballlibrary.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-26. His brother, who

boxed Boxed may refer to: * Boxed.com, a wholesale on-line shopping site. * Boxed (Eurythmics), ''Boxed'' (Eurythmics), an eight album box set * Boxed (Mike Oldfield album), ''Boxed'' (Mike Oldfield album) * Boxed warning, a warning that appears on Unite ...

under the name Frankie Campbell, died of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

following a 1930 match with Max Baer.

Major league career

Born and raised in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, Camilli attended

Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, commonly known as SHC or SH, is a Catholic school located in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Founded in 1852, Sacred Heart Cathedral is the oldest Catholic secondary school and ...

. He had an eight-year

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

career before making his major league debut with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

at the end of the season. He was traded to the Phillies in June 1934, and in each year from 1935 to 1937 he hit 25 or more home runs,

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

a career-high .339 and leading the National League in

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

in the last season. But he also had a free-swinging style that led to numerous

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is den ...

s; in his rookie season, he tied

Hack Wilson Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson (April 26, 1900 – November 23, 1948) was an American Major League Baseball player who played 12 seasons for the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Despite his diminutive statur ...

's modern National League record of 94 strikeouts, and in he set a new league mark with 113. In March 1938, Camilli was traded to the Dodgers in a move that new general manager Larry MacPhail hoped would spark a change in the team's image from lovable losers to solid contenders. He drove in 100 or more runs in four of the next five seasons, being named an All-Star in 1939 and 1941 and becoming team captain. He also led the National League in walks in 1938 and 1939, but in the latter year became the first player to have three 100-strikeout seasons. In 1941, he again led the league with 115 strikeouts and also surpassed

Rabbit Maranville Walter James Vincent "Rabbit" Maranville (November 11, 1891 – January 6, 1954) was an American professional baseball shortstop, second baseman and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, ...

's National League career record of 756. He also set career-highs in home runs (34) and runs batted in (120), leading the league in both categories. However, in the 1941 World Series, he batted just .167 with only 1 run batted in as the Dodgers lost to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in five games. In , he finished second in the National League in home runs and runs batted in. That year, he also broke

Zack Wheat Zachariah Davis Wheat (May 23, 1888 – March 11, 1972), nicknamed "Buck", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left fielder from 1909 to 1927, most notably as a member of the Brooklyn Do ...

's club record of 131 career home runs (

Gil Hodges Gilbert Ray Hodges (''né'' Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was widely regarded as t ...

surpassed his final total of 139 in , and

Duke Snider Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider (September 19, 1926 – February 27, 2011), nicknamed "the Silver Fox" and "the Duke of Flatbush", was an American professional baseball player. Primarily a center fielder, he spent most of his Major League Baseball (M ...

broke his mark for left-handed batters later the same year). In July 1943 Camilli was traded to the New York Giants, but he refused to report to the Dodgers' hated rivals; instead, he managed the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in 1944–45 before joining the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

in mid-, batting .212 with two home runs in his last season. In a 12-season career, Camilli posted a .277 batting average with 239 home runs and 950 runs batted in during 1490 games played. After leading the National League in errors in both 1934 and 1935, and setting a record with three errors in one inning in 1935, he improved his defense and later led the league in assists and fielding percentage once each. He recorded a .990 fielding percentage playing every inning in his major league career at first base. He also ended his career with 961 strikeouts, more than any player except

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

(1330) and

Jimmie Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, ...

(1311); his National League record of 923 was broken by Gil Hodges in . Among his career highlights was recording the last out of Ruth's career.

Later life

Following his playing career, Camilli returned to the Pacific Coast League and managed the Oaks and

Sacramento Solons The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Pacific Coast League during several periods (1903, 1905, 1909–1914, 1918–1960, 1974–1976). The current Sacramento River Cats began pl ...

, as well as several other minor league teams, winning a pennant with Spokane in 1948. He later was a scout for the Yankees and California Angels before finishing his baseball career as a spring training instructor for the Angels. Camilli was inducted into the Dodgers Hall of Fame in , and recalled of his fans, "All they cared about was their family, their job and the Dodgers. And I don't know which one was the most important." In an article in 1976 in ''Esquire'' magazine, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter", consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Camilli was the first baseman on Stein's Italian team. Camilli died in San Mateo, California at age 90. He was buried at

Cypress Lawn Memorial Park Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a rural cemetery located in Colma, California, a place known as the "City of the Silent". History Cypress Lawn Memorial Park is the final resting site for several memb ...

Colma, California Colma (Ohlone for "Springs") is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,507 at the 2020 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924. ...

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Camilli, Dolph 1907 births 1997 deaths American sportspeople of Italian descent Baseball players from San Francisco Boston Red Sox players Brooklyn Dodgers players Burials at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park California Angels scouts Chicago Cubs players Logan Collegians players Major League Baseball first basemen National League All-Stars National League home run champions National League Most Valuable Player Award winners National League RBI champions New York Yankees scouts Oakland Athletics scouts Oakland Oaks (baseball) managers Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Philadelphia Phillies players Sacramento Senators players Salt Lake City Bees players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Spokane Indians managers

Major league career

Later life

See also

References

External links