1945

Dolph Camilli was born in San Francisco on April 23, 1907. He attended Sacred Heart Academy High School. 

Dolph played baseball, and had the opportunity to turn professional in 1926, playing as a first baseman for the Class C Logan Collegians in the Utah town and for the Pacific Coast League San Francisco Seals. In 1927, he also played for both teams and in 1928, he hit a solid .333 for the Salt Lake City Bees.

The success he had there helped him win the first-base slot with the Sacramento Solons in the Coast League, where he put together five strong seasons from 1929-1933. Dolph had back-to-back 200-hit seasons, but missed out on the end of the 1933 season because he was beckoned to Chicago to play for the Cubs.

He first began his big-league career with the Chicago Cubs, debuting in September 1933 and appeared in 16 games that first year, when he was traded to the Phillies. He wasn’t pleased at being dealt to the Phils, perennial cellar dwellers, while leaving a potential winner in the Cubs, talked about quitting baseball and going home. 

However, he played in Philadelphia for four years. His batting average for the 1937 season was the highest for a Phillies first baseman in the 20th century and in 1937, he led National League first basemen in fielding with a .994 average. Dolph, however, often had problems agreeing to a contract with the Phillies brass. He held out in both 1937 and 1938. These holdouts, added to the pressures of limited cash, caused the Phillies to trade him to the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The purchase of Dolph by the Dodgers, was considered as the first building block in the recovery of the Dodgers, who had not won a pennant in 21 years. Before they won the 1941 National League flag, there was little fandom, the seats were crumbling, the ushers were surly and the team was a perennial second division club. Dolph played 5 1/2 seasons for the Dodgers, hitting for a combined .270 average. His 34 home runs led the National League in 1941, as did his 120 RBIs. 

While playing for the Dodgers he built up a severe animosity toward New York’s third major-league team, the New York Giants and their fans. When he was traded to them in July 1943, he refused to report, stayed home for the entire remainder of the season and returned to work on his cattle ranch in California.  Therefore Giants traded his rights to the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in December.

In 1944, he returned to baseball as the player manager of the Oakland team and led the Oaks to a third-place finish. In 1945, he returned as Oaks manager, but played little, going to bat only 17 times. 

In June, he was fired as the manager and took advantage of the need for established players during wartime, signing as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox and appeared in 63 games, batting .212. With the war over, and so many veterans coming back, he was released in December.

He had three more disconnected managerial stints: 1948 with Spokane, 1950 with Dayton, and 1953 for the Magic Valley Cowboys in the Pioneer League in Idaho.

For the next 25 years he spent most of his time as a scout for the Yanks, A’s, and Angels before finally retiring in 1971. 

Dolph Camilli died on October 21, 1997, at age 90, in San Mateo, California.