Born Into Baseball: Laughter and Heartbreak at the Edge of The Show

Jim Campanis Jr. is a third generation professional baseball player whose career stopped just short of the major leagues. Born Into Baseball is a collection of Jim’s stories about his life in and around the game:

• As a boy—meeting star players, being batboy, sitting in the owner’s box
• As a prospect—starring in high school, making All-American at USC, being drafted in the third round
• In the minors—enduring long bus trips and seedy hotels, climbing the cut-throat pro ball ladder, living and laughing through wild times

But even with all the thrills and triumphs, Jim’s path in baseball was far from an easy one. With every open door came great pressure. Every success he enjoyed was followed by injustice or an injury. Jim’s elite status as a Campanis provided many opportunities, but that fame turned to infamy when his grandfather Al, longtime GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers, made his disastrous appearance on Nightline. After that, Jim’s life was never the same.

From losing a race to a backwards-running Ken Griffey Jr., to learning the Kangaroo Court fine for a “dick in the spread” infraction, to breaking his wrist the very day he was told he’d be called up to the majors, Jim Campanis’s Jr.’s stories will enlighten, amuse, and inspire all fans who ever wondered what it would be like to be Born Into Baseball.

Author is son of former Major Leaguer Jim Campanis, and grandson of former Brooklyn Dodgers player Al Campanis, who went on to be a highly successful general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.