Joseph Lewis Campinha (May 11, 1920 – May 21, 2001), also known as Joe Campini, was a Cape Verdean-American

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

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 catc ...

in the 1940s. He is believed to be the first professional baseball player of Cape Verdean descent. A native of

East Wareham, Massachusetts Wareham ( ) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 23,303. Wareham is in the southern outskirts of Greater Boston, and is a part of the South Coast region of Massachusetts ...

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

an descent, Campinha played under the name "Campini" for the

Baltimore Elite Giants The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from to . The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team ...

in 1948. A backup for the team's regular catcher

Frazier Robinson Henry Frazier Robinson (May 30, 1910 – October 13, 1997), nicknamed "Slow", was an American Negro league catcher for the Kansas City Monarchs, New York Black Yankees, and Baltimore Elite Giants between 1942 and 1950. A native of Birmingham ...

, Campinha managed a hit and a walk in two plate appearances in his one recorded game for Baltimore, which may have come in April at Bugle Field against the

Homestead Grays The Homestead Grays (also known as Washington Grays or Washington Homestead Grays) were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 in sports, 1912 by Cum ...

. Following his stint with Baltimore, Campinha played minor league baseball with the

Bangor Pickers Bangor may refer to: Places Australia * Bangor, New South Wales * Bangor, Tasmania Canada * Bangor, Nova Scotia * Bangor, Saskatchewan * Bangor, Prince Edward Island United Kingdom Northern Ireland * Bangor, County Down ** Bangor railway sta ...

in 1949, and the Watertown Athletics in 1950, his final season in professional baseball. Campinha went on to serve in the

United States Merchant Marine The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian sailor, mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of ...

, and died in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

in 2001 at age 81.

References

External links

an
Seamheads
1920 births 2001 deaths American people of Cape Verdean descent Baltimore Elite Giants players People from Wareham, Massachusetts Baseball players from Plymouth County, Massachusetts Watertown Athletics players {{Negro-league-baseball-catcher-stub