BASEBALL Campanella MVP awards to be sold

His widow will auction off many other prized possessions this month.
EXTON, Pa. (AP) -- The widow of Roy Campanella, the Hall of Fame catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, has decided to auction off her husband's three Most Valuable Player awards and other prized trophies in Chester County later this month.
The auction will also include Campanella's Hall of Fame plaque, his No. 39 blue warm-up jacket and the shoes he wore in his last game.
His three National League MVP awards from 1951, 1953 and 1955 are expected to sell for $100,000 to $130,000, according to Exton-based Hunt Auctions Inc., a prominent sports auctioneer that's organizing the sale.
But another major dealer, Al Rosen, guesses the trophies could go for much more.
"Any time even one MVP award comes up for sale, that's big news. This is remarkable," said T.S. O'Connell, editor of Sports Collectors Digest, a trade publication.
Campanella's widow, Roxie, said she decided to sell her husband's trophies because she no longer felt the need to keep them.
"I'm not selling them because of the money; I am selling them because I am afraid of keeping them," said Roxie Campanella. "I decided to let the public -- the people who really appreciate them -- have them."
Rings not for sale
One item not for sale is Campanella's championship rings, which the family has retained. Roxie said her husband's only World Series ring was stolen about 25 years ago.
Campanella, whose career was cut short by a 1958 car accident that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down, was born in North Philadelphia and dropped out of Simon Gratz High School at the age of 15. He lived on Long Island while playing for the Dodgers and spent his latter years in California.
Campanella was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969. He died 10 years ago.
Sports memorabilia dealers said they were excited by the auction, which they called unprecedented.
"I've had the best of the best; I've brought out a couple of hundred players," said Rosen, of Montvale, N.J. "But I've never seen anyone like Roy Campanella -- a player of his magnitude -- put his collectibles up for sale."
Auction set Aug. 22
Hunt's auction, which includes hundreds of other baseball and football collectibles, will begin at 5:30 p.m Aug. 22 at the Inn at Chester Springs, along Route 100 in Exton. Potential buyers can place bids on-line, by phone and in person.
Campanella's goods will be auctioned the following morning.
Campanella, whose father was Italian American and whose mother was African American, spent half his career in the Negro Leagues. He is widely regarded as one of the top catchers in baseball history. His Dodgers won five NL pennants and the 1955 World Series.
"We've got the memories," said Jodi Campanella Roan, one of Roy's daughters. "It isn't anything we can hang on the walls."