James Robert Campbell (born June 24, 1937 in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

, a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

who played 82 games in the Major Leagues for the Houston Colt .45s during and . He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Campbell was acquired by the Colt .45s over a full season before the team played an official big-league game. He'd signed originally with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955, was briefly loaned to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

organization, and played for six seasons without reaching the Double-A level. After the 1960

minor-league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

season, he was drafted by the Milwaukee Braves, then traded on February 23, 1961, to the newborn Colt .45s, founded as a

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

expansion team set to debut in 1962. To prepare for their first MLB season, the Colt .45s — known as the ''Astros'' since 1965 — were acquiring minor league players to stock their organization and loaning them to other teams' minor-league clubs. Campbell was assigned to the 1961

Houston Buffs Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs and the last minor-league team to represent

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. Campbell was the Buffs' first-string catcher in 1961 and then was assigned to the Colt .45s' top 1962 affiliate, the

Oklahoma City 89ers Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

of the

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. Campbell batted .350 in 70 games played for the 89ers and earned a promotion to the big-league Colt .45s in July. He appeared in 27 games over the remainder of 1962, 25 as a starting catcher, and batted .221 with three home runs and six

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

. He then began the 1963 season on the Houston roster, caught the opening day game against the defending league champion

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

, and started the next four games in succession. But he collected only one

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and was batting only .056 when he was replaced in the lineup by veteran Hal Smith. Campbell batted only .118 in April and it would be June 5 before his average climbed above the .200 level. On July 23, he made his final MLB appearance as a pinch hitter, singling in the seventh inning off Dallas Green of the Philadelphia Phillies in a game Houston would eventually win in 15 innings.1963-7-23 box score
from

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It was his 54th Major League hit; in addition to his seven career home runs, he had seven doubles. Campbell finished 1963 with Oklahoma City and continued his minor league career at Triple-A through 1965.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Jim 1937 births Living people Baseball players from California Billings Mustangs players Douglas Copper Kings players Houston Buffs players Houston Colt .45s players Idaho Falls Russets players Las Vegas Wranglers (baseball) players Lincoln Chiefs players Major League Baseball catchers Oklahoma City 89ers players Sportspeople from Palo Alto, California Salinas Packers players San Diego Padres (minor league) players San Jose Pirates players Savannah Pirates players Seattle Angels players