A Change of Heart by Barbara Feeney - A Roy Campanella

The game of baseball can break your heart; your team fails, a critical game gets lost, the key player going down, or they could just pack up & move to the West Coast. Is it possible to have a Change of Heart? See what happened below:

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"A star with both the bat and glove, Roy Campanella was agile behind the plate, had a rifle arm and was an expert handler of pitchers." - National Baseball Hall of Fame (website)

A Change of Heart

Written by Barbara Feeney ©

The Bums are gone; good, I'm
glad!
O'Malley used to make me
mad.

Those old short fences, ciggie
ads
And bright beer signs were
passing fads.

That winning spirit couldn't
last
When Robby's playing days
were past.

The ecstacy of
'55
When Podres kept our hopes
alive

Are locked with scorecards,
photographs
Forgotten — with the million
laughs

Of bleacher days. But who
cares now?
I'll never miss them,
anyhow.

But, then — a bulletin comes
through
A flash from
WNEW

It's Campanella! And they
say
That Roy was nearly
killed today.

Paralysis! The tragic
end
Of Campy's ever-winning
bend.

Who can forget the impish
grin
Accompanying every Dodger
win?

The ever-crouching
"39"
Assuring fans that all is
fine

Thrice MVP, the catching
ace
Who figured in each pennant
race

Was loved by each and every
fan
Who rooted for that Brooklyn
clan.

And now, the world has tumbled
down,
The prayers of a united
town

Today are flooding heaven's
gate
For Brooklyn's favorite
battery mate.

We never thought we'd feel this
way
When first they took out for
LA

But Campy's crash has taught
us all
We're Dodger fans still,
Spring to Fall.

No matter where they choose to
roam,
The hearts of Brooklyn are
their home.

A Change of Heart by Barbara Feeney ©
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baseball almanac fast facts

In It's Good to be Alive by Roy Campanella (University of Nebraska Press, ISBN: 0803263635), he wrote the following moving words at the start of Chapter One:

"My mind is so full of thoughts as I sit in my wheel chair and get ready to dictate the story of my life... a life that has been so eventful, so exciting, so wonderful... a life that was almost taken away from me but which God spared... a life such as few people have been fortunate enough to live.

Where shall I start? How do I begin? There is so much to tell. Shall I begin with the automobile accident? When I recovered consciousness in the car and discovered that I was paralyzed? Shall I start with the time I came out of the anesthia after they cut a hole in my windpipe to allow me to breathe?

Shall I open with the time I presented a baseball to a little boy in the hospital with me; and, after I apologized for not being physically able to autograph it for him, he said simply, 'That's all right, Mr. Campanella, I can't see.'"

Source: It's Good to be Alive by Roy Campanella.

Campy was a true star in the Mexican League, the Negro Leagues and in the Major Leagues. His final major league game was played on September 29, 1957 — which was also the final major league baseball game ever played at historic Ebbets Field.

This poem — A Change of Heart — is a Baseball Almanac exclusive and appears here with expression written permission from the author.