We remember Bert “Dagoberto (Blanco)” Campaneris who was born in Pueblo Nuevo, Cuba on this day in 1942.
It’s easy to overlook how great Campy really was. He batted first and a critical component of the Oakland A’s who won 3 straight World Series titles, 1972-1973-1974.
During his great career, he had 2,249 hits and 646 stolen bases.
Campaneris’ batting average of .259 was quite respectable for a shortstop of that era, or a time when most of them were known for their glove and legs rather than bat.
He played in 7 post-season series and was in the middle of everything, as Charlie Finley said:
“You can talk about Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, and Sal Bando, all those great players, but it was Campy who made everything go.
Indeed he was!
PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.