May 8, 1946: Roy Campanella belts home run in Nashua Dodgers’ Opening Day loss to Lynn Red Sox

“‘I only hope that I can make as good a start in the opening game in Nashua,’ Campanella said that historic afternoon in Jersey City. ‘I don’t ask for the sensational kind of day Jackie had, that’s expecting too much. All I want is a coupla [sic] base hits.’”1

Roy Campanella was among the 51,872 fans in attendance at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey, when Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Montreal Royals on April 18, 1946. He cheered as his Venezuelan winter ball roommate went 4-for-5 with a home run, three singles, four runs scored, four RBIs, and two stolen bases.

Exactly 20 days later, Campanella made his own debut in formerly segregated Organized Baseball, albeit with a lot less fanfare.

In October 1945, Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey made history when he signed Robinson, thus ending the “Gentleman’s Agreement” that had barred Black ballplayers from National and American League baseball for more than 60 years. By mid-March 1946, Rickey had signed three additional Negro League standouts: Homestead Grays pitcher John Wright (who initially joined Robinson in Montreal),2 Newark Eagles pitcher Don Newcombe, and Baltimore Elite Giants catcher Campanella. Though both Newcombe and Campanella were established ballplayers, Rickey sent them to the Dodgers’ newly established Class B team in Nashua, New Hampshire, in the revived New England League.

“Exactly how Nashua came to be the site of the first Black players on a Caucasian professional baseball team since the 1890s has remained shrouded in legend and lore,” wrote Charlie Bevis in his 2008 book, The New England League: A Baseball History, 1885-1949.3 For many years, baseball historians believed a version of the story that Campanella recounted in his autobiography, It’s Good to be Alive. Based on a phone conversation he overheard between Rickey’s assistant Bob Finch and a representative of Brooklyn’s Danville, Illinois club, Campanella believed he was headed for Danville of the Three-I League, until league president Tom Fairweather refused to accept Black players.4 Because most of the Dodgers’ farm teams were located in the South, Rickey was left with one tenable option: Nashua.

More recent scholarship, including Bevis’ book, offers an alternate theory. Bevis posits that Rickey and New England League president Claude Davidson had worked together in the fall of 1945 to revive the league as “an out-of-the-way sanctuary to develop Black players for the Brooklyn Dodgers.”5 In fact, Bevis argues that Black players were destined for Nashua months before Campanella and Newcombe were even signed.

What is not in dispute is the role that Newcombe and especially Campanella played in revitalizing the New England League, which returned in 1946 after a 16-year absence.6

At 8 p.m. on May 8, 1946, under the lights at Fraser Field in Lynn, Massachusetts, 3,939 shivering fans braved the cold to witness the Lynn Red Sox, Class B affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, take on the Nashua Dodgers. Lynn Mayor Albert Cole threw out the ceremonial first pitch, while league president Davidson watched from the grandstand.

With the exception of Baltimore’s Afro American and the Pittsburgh Courier, which sent famed sports editor Wendell Smith, the national press largely ignored the evening’s events.7 Only The Sporting News, in a brief, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it column buried on page 26, alluded to the history-making moment: “Despite cold weather, opening day crowds totaled 17,000 in the four cities of the revived [New England] league. The top turnout [in Lynn] … was attributed largely to the debut of the Dodgers’ Negro catcher, Roy Campanella.”8

Campanella was already an all-star-caliber player. In 252 games over eight seasons as a member of the Baltimore Elite Giants, he hit .314 and collected 275 hits, including 58 doubles, 14 triples, and 19 home runs.9 When Nashua first baseman/manager Walter Alston, future skipper of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, filled out his Opening Day lineup card, he wrote Campanella’s name in the cleanup spot.10

Starting for the Lynn Red Sox was 24-year-old right-hander Roger Wright, the curve-balling younger brother of Boston Braves hurler Ed Wright. Roger Wright spent 16 years in the minor leagues and compiled a career-best 17-6 record in 1946. Opposing him was 23-year-old righty Bernard “Bernie” Reinertsen, who was known to be a little wild. “In fact,” noted the Nashua Telegraph, “Alston is depending more or less on an occasional erratic pitch, plus Bernie’s speed, to keep the Red Legs [sic] at a polite distance from the plate.”11

Alston didn’t have long to wait for an erratic pitch. Lynn’s leadoff hitter, left fielder Ray Piano, opened with a single, took second on Reinertsen’s first wild pitch of the season, and moved to third when Campanella overthrew second base after digging out Reinertsen’s pitch. Campanella was charged with an error, his first of 15 in 106 defensive appearances with Nashua.12 Center fielder Bill Boyce singled to score Piano, who was given a new hat from a local merchant for scoring Lynn’s first run of the season.13

Wright, meanwhile, held Campanella and the Dodgers scoreless until the fourth inning. Campanella grounded out, third to first, in his first plate appearance but beat out what the Pittsburgh Courier called “a slow roller down the third-base line” in his second at-bat.14 With the hit-and-run on, he scored from first base when Alston followed with a double.15

Wright and Reinertsen were locked in a 1-1 ballgame until Reinertsen ran into trouble in the fifth. After inducing a groundout from Wright, Reinertsen gave up three runs on four consecutive hits: Piano’s single, right fielder Edward Lynk’s double, first baseman Bob Sperry’s single, and third baseman Sam DiBlasi’s triple. Lefty Joe O’Neill took over for Reinertsen and retired center fielder Boyce on a long flyout, which scored DiBlasi with Lynn’s fifth run.  

Both teams scored in the sixth. In the top half, Nashua second baseman Joe Tuminelli singled and advanced to second on a walk to shortstop Al Rehm. Tuminelli scored from second when Lynn first baseman Sperry failed to complete a double play and threw wildly over third base. The Sox loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth when Joe Wall walked, Wright singled, and Piano was struck by a pitch from O’Neil. Lynk drew a walk to force in a run, and Wright scored when Nashua failed to turn a double play.

The score remained 7-2 until the top of the ninth. Dodgers third baseman Stan Lipka led off with a single to left field, and Campanella followed with a towering blast into the darkness beyond the left field lights.16 In the words of Pittsburgh Courier sportswriter Smith:

“Roy Campanella was as brilliant as the lights under which he played . . . The former catcher of the Baltimore Elite Giants lived up to expectations by getting a home run and two singles in four trips to the plate. He scored Nashua’s first run of the 1946 season and drove in two others in the ninth with a 440[-foot] circuit drive that left the near-capacity crowd of 4,000 gasping in amazement.”17

Like Robinson, Campanella impressed in his debut: 3-for-4 with a walk, two singles, and a home run that was rumored to be among the longest ever hit at Fraser Field.18

Sportswriters in both cities were optimistic about the season ahead. Although Reinertsen and O’Neill walked six, hit three batters, threw a wild pitch, and gave up seven hits, including a double and a triple, Frank Stawasz of the Nashua Telegraph remained upbeat. “There’s power in the lineup,” wrote Stawasz, “and when the pitchers steady, the club is going to be tough to beat.”19

Curt Noyes of Lynn’s Daily Evening Item was equally buoyant: “Tight defensively, everlastingly hustling . . .the Lynn Red Sox looked the part of a good baseball team throughout the evening. . . They should be in the thick of the New England League fight from start to finish.”20

In fact, Lynn’s victory was just the opening salvo in a season-long battle between the clubs. Lynn held the early advantage, winning four of its first six games against Nashua, but Nashua came back to win nine of the final 11 contests.21 They entered the last day of the season – a doubleheader between the teams at Nashua’s Holman Stadium – with the pennant on the line. The Lynn Red Sox won the first game (and the regular-season title), 10-3. Nashua came back to beat them in the second game, 13-3. Lynn’s margin of victory was 1½ games.

That these two teams would square off for the New England League’s inaugural Governor’s Cup Championship seemed inevitable. (Both teams easily dispatched their opening-round opponents: For Lynn, the Manchester Giants and for Nashua, the Pawtucket Slaters.) Nashua won the best-of-seven series four games to two en route to its first of three consecutive New England League playoff championships.

Campanella was a unanimous selection to the New England League’s 1946 All-Star team. He batted .290, drove in 96 runs, and led all catchers in putouts and assists. At the end of the season, he was voted the league’s most valuable player. The following season he was promoted to the Dodgers’ AAA team, the Montreal Royals, and in 1948, he earned a spot on Brooklyn’s big-league roster, where he would remain for the rest of his Hall of Fame career.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kurt Blumenau and copy-edited by Keith Thursby.

Photo credit: Roy Campanella, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author also consulted SABR.org, Seamheads.com Negro League Database, Baseball-Reference.com, and Retrosheet.org.

Neither Baseball-Reference nor Retrosheet offers box scores for minor-league games, but the May 9, 1946, editions of the Nashua Telegraph (Nashua, New Hampshire) and the Daily Evening Item (Lynn, Massachusetts) printed box scores.

Notes

1 Wendell Smith, “The Sports Beat: Down on Brooklyn’s Nashua Farm,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 18, 1946: 26.

2 Wright was not a member of the Montreal Royals for long; he was used sparingly and demoted to Three Rivers of the Class C Canadian-American League on May 14, 1946. Niall Adler, “John Wright,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/john-wright/. Accessed May 2026.

3 Charlie Bevis, The New England League: A Baseball History, 1885-1949. (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2008) 256.

4 This story was also perpetuated by historian Jules Tygiel in his 1997 book, Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and his Legacy and in a March 28, 1997, article in the Boston Globe, “Nashua, N.H., was Safe Haven,” by Michael Madden. Bevis is quick to note that Campanella was not being untruthful when he gave his version of the story. “He just did not have all the facts at his disposal.” Bevis, 258.

5 Bevis, 257.

6 The revived New England League comprised eight teams; four were affiliated with major league clubs and four were independent. The Nashua Dodgers were owned by the Brooklyn Dodgers; the Lynn Red Sox were owned by the Boston Red Sox; the Pawtucket (Rhode Island) Slaters had an agreement with the Boston Braves; and the Manchester (New Hampshire) Giants were affiliated with the New York Giants. Independent teams included the Lawrence Millionaires and Fall River Indians, both of Massachusetts; the Providence (Rhode Island) Chiefs; and the Portland (Maine) Gulls. The teams played 126 games (63 home and 63 away), with a two-round playoff for the Governor’s Cup Championship. Seven of the eight ballparks were equipped with lights, allowing for night games for the first time in New England League history. (Portland played all of its home games during the day.)

7 Smith himself was part of the Nashua Telegraph’s opening day coverage: “Wendell Smith, sports editor of the Pittsburgh Courier, largest Negro newspaper in the country, is in the city for several days. . . One of the foremost sports editors in the country, Smith left Montreal, where he was following Jackie Robinson, to come to Nashua to see Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe. . .” “Pittsburgh Newsman Here to Watch Dodgers,” Nashua Telegraph, May 9, 1946: 21.

8 The Sporting News lists total attendance at 5,500, but this number is inconsistent with other sources, including the Nashua Telegraph and Lynn Daily Item, both of which list attendance at 3,939. “New England League,” The Sporting News, May 16, 1946: 26.

9 Newcombe was also coming off a successful 1945 season in which he went 5-3 with the Newark Eagles and was elected to his first Negro League All Star team. Alston told the Afro-American that he intended to pitch Newcombe in Nashua’s home opener, scheduled for May 9 against Lynn, but the game was rained out. Instead, Newcombe made his first start on May 10, pitching a seven-hit shutout to beat the Pawtucket Slaters 3-0. He struck out five and retired the first eight batters he faced before giving up his first hit to Pawtucket’s pitcher Bobo Forys. Newcombe went 2-for-4 with two singles. “Ex-Balto. Catcher Belts Homer, but Nashua Loses,” Afro-American, May 18, 1946: 14; Roy Campanella – Seamheads Negro Leagues Database

10 While many of the players on both sides were career minor leaguers, several had big league careers. In addition to future Hall of Famers Campanella, Newcombe, and Alston, Nashua’s roster also included future major leaguer Billy DeMars and Larry Shepard, who won four pennants and two World Series titles while serving as the pitching coach for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s. Several members of the Lynn Red Sox also made it to the major leagues, including Matt Batts, Walker Cress, Jim Davis, Jim McDonald, and Bill Sommers.

11 “Dodgers versus Lynn in League Inaugural at Lynn Tonight,” Nashua Telegraph, May 8, 1946: 9.

12 According to Baseball Reference, Campanella appeared in 113 games with the Nashua Dodgers, but made only 106 appearances in the field, all as catcher. Roy Campanella Mexican & Minor Leagues Statistics | Baseball-Reference.com

13 There is some discrepancy as to the speed and location of Boyce’s hit. The Nashua Telegraph described it as “a sharp single to right-center,” while the Lynn Daily Item called it “a slow roller down the third-base line.” Frank Stawasz, “Dodgers Drop Opener to Lynn Sox, 7-4,” Nashua Telegraph, May 9, 1946: 21; Harvey L. Southward, “Lynn Tops Nashua, 7-4, in N.E. Opener,” Lynn Daily Item, May 9, 1946:1; Wendell Smith, “Campanella Hits Homer in Debut,” Pittsburgh Courier, May 11, 1946: 23.

14 Smith, “Campanella Hits Homer in Debut.”

15 The 1946 season was Alston’s last as a player. He appeared in 50 games at first base, hitting .261 with 30 RBI despite an injury that curtailed his season and ultimately ended his playing career. During the May 24, 1946 game against the Manchester Giants, Alston collided with Giants backup catcher Sal Yvars, who “quite intentionally plowed into him, sending the Dodgers manager sprawling.” Alston, who initially complained of a stiff neck and headache, continued playing for several weeks, but later tests revealed two displaced vertebrae in his back. “From then on, my baseball was from the bench,” wrote Alston in his 1976 autobiography, A Year at a Time. Frank Stawasz, “Dodgers Lick Giants, 5-2, to Take Over Third Place,” Nashua Telegraph, May 25, 1946: 7; Walter Alston, A Year at a Time (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1976) 61-64.

16 In his autobiography, Campanella recounts his opening day home run against Lynn but erroneously identifies the pitcher as “a big sidearm right-hander by the name of Walter [sic] Cress.” Contemporary newspaper accounts are in agreement that Wright, Lynn’s opening day pitcher, gave up the home run, but Campanella can be forgiven for thinking it was Walker Cress, who was tough to beat in 1946. Cress compiled a 19-3 record with a 1.95 ERA and 174 strikeouts. He also threw a no-hitter against Nashua on May 27, 1946.

17 Smith, “The Sports Beat: Down on Brooklyn’s Nashua Farm.” Campanella won more than just the admiration of the fans with his first home run of the season; Nashua farmer Jack Fallgren of Fallgren Farms promised Nashua players 100 baby chicks for every home run they hit they hit during the 1946 season. Wrote Campanella in his autobiography, “I hit 13 home runs during the regular season and one in the playoffs so at the end of the season I shipped 1,400 baby chicks home to Philadelphia, and Pop started a little poultry farm just outside of town.” Roy Campanella, It’s Good to be Alive (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1959): 123.

18 Campanella drew a walk from Wright in his third plate appearance and hit his second single of the game in the seventh when he “whaled a whistling single to center.” Smith, “Campanella Hits Homer in Debut.”

19 Frank Stawasz, “Dodgers Drop Opener to Lynn Sox, 7-4,” Nashua Telegraph, May 9, 1946: 21.

20 Curt Noyes, “Calling the Turn: Nice Going, Roger,” Lynn Daily Evening Item, May 9, 1946: 19.

21 Steve Daly, Dem Little Bums: The Nashua Dodgers (Concord, New Hampshire: Plaidswede Publishing, 2002): 31.