Dagoberto Blanco Campaneris

Native of Pueblo Nuevo, Cuba, the great player Dagoberto Blanco Campaneris arrived in the United States to fulfill his desire to become a star of Anglo-Saxon baseball. Within his Latin and Cuban pride, he demonstrated himself to be an extremely temperamental individual on the playing field, which led him to be respected on every diamond he graced. It was an era where the Hispanic-American ballplayer sought to establish his own identity severely punished by the augurs of segregation.

Campy's debut could not have been better when on June 23, 1964, playing for the Kansas City Athletics, he batted (4-3), hit (2) home runs and drove in (3) runs against the pitches of Jim Kaat, left-handed pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. From that point forward, the ballplayer from Pueblo Nuevo demonstrated that he had the tools to survive in the major leagues and become one of the best.

As fate would have it, Campaneris had (7) Latino teammates in (1964) with Kansas City in the persons of (José Tartabull-Cienfuegos, Cuba), (Manny Jiménez-San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic), (Ricardo Joseph-San Pedro de Macorís-Dominican Republic), (Orlando Peña-Victoria de las Tunas–Cuba), (Diego Seguí–Holguín-Cuba), (José "Palillo" Santiago-Juana Díaz–Puerto Rico) and (Aurelio Monteagudo-Caibarién-Cuba).

MAJOR LEAGUES PARTICIPATION
Campaneris remained in the Major Leagues for (19) seasons from age 22 to 41 with the clubs Kansas City Athletics (1964-1967), Oakland Athletics (1968-1976), Texas Rangers (1977-1981), California Angels (1979-1981) and New York Yankees (1983). His statistics inform us that he participated in (2,328) games, (8,684) at-bats, (1,181) runs scored, (2,249) hits, (313) doubles, (86) triples, (790) home runs, (646) RBIs, (1,142) strikeouts and a (.259) batting average.

In the field, he participated as shortstop in (2,097) games, third base (76), outfield (69), first base (1), catcher (1) and pitcher (1). He committed (388) errors, completed (1,215) double plays, (6,323) assists in (2,281) games for a (.963%) fielding percentage.

CAMPY PLAYED 3 YEARS IN THE MINOR LEAGUES
Before reaching the majors, Dagoberto saw action in the Minor Leagues for a span of (3) years with Dayton Beach (1962), Birmingham (1962-1964) and Lewiston (1963). In (245) games he batted (.309) in (855) at-bats, (264) hits, (41) doubles, (14) triples, (89) RBIs and (162) runs scored.

CAMPY'S PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Leader in stolen bases (LA) (1965-51) (1966-52) (1967-55) (1968-62) (1970-42) (1972-52).
Leader in three-base hits (LA) (1965-12).
Leader in hits connected (1968-177).
Leader in strikeouts received (LA) (1965-9).
Leader in sacrifices (LA) (1972-20) (1977-40) (1978-25).
Leader in singles connected (LA) (1968-139).
Leader in at-bats consumed (LA) (1968-642) (1972-625).
Participated in (6) Championship Series and (3) World Series (1972-1973-1974).
Played all (9) positions on September 9, 1965.
From (1965 to 1972) he stole a total of (410) bases.
Hit safely in consecutive games in (1972-17 games) and (1971-15 games).
In (1982) he played in the Mexican League before returning to United States baseball.

He retired in (1983) at the age of (41) after participating with the New York Yankees where he was used by Billy Martin as a backup infielder and pinch hitter, batting (.322) in (60) games.