SALUTING CAMPY, HEART OF DODGERS.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY

She'll be standing at home plate on Saturday in front of 55,000 fans at Yankee Stadium, thinking about her dad, the late Roy Campanella, and how he'd be having a pretty good laugh.

One of the Brooklyn Dodgers' greatest Boys of Summer being honored in Yankee Stadium, the House That Ruth Built.

``Some of my dad's fondest memories were hitting baseballs out of that stadium,'' Joni Roan said Wednesday, laughing as she got ready to leave her Woodland Hills home for the trip back East with her brother, John.

Campy, as he was nicknamed by fans, never got the chance to play for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was paralyzed in a car accident in New York in 1958, the year before the team moved from Brooklyn to L.A.

But the Hall of Fame catcher, who won three Most Valuable Player awards in his shortened 10-year major league career, is still considered the heart and soul of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

When the U.S. Postal Service went looking for four Hall of Famers to honor in its Baseball Sluggers stamp series being unveiled this weekend, it was Roy, who died in 1993, who was chosen to represent the Dodgers.

New York Yankee Mickey Mantle, New York Giant Mel Ott, and Detroit Tiger Hank Greenberg round out the series.

``It's perfect, really,'' said Roan, who heads the Daily News' Newspapers in Education program. ``Dad's number was 39, and how much is a stamp these days?''

Even though he never played for the L.A. Dodgers, Campy proved invaluable to the organization. He worked more than 25 years as a spring training instructor for young catchers, such as Mike Scioscia, and was an inspiration to the team.

The stamp ceremony is taking place at Yankee Stadium -- the piece of real estate the Dodgers hated most -- because it's the only ballpark still standing from the 1940s and '50s, the golden era for the four sluggers.

``All four men are from New York, and Brooklyn's Ebbets Field and the Giants' Polo Grounds are long gone, so we chose Yankee Stadium,'' said USPS spokesman Mark Saunders.

Greenberg, the first Jewish superstar in Major League Baseball, played most of his career in Detroit, but was born and raised in New York.

Still, it would have been more fair had the ceremony been held on neutral ground, such as the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., so Campy, Ott and Greenberg would not be overshadowed by the speeches and special ovations expected for Mantle.

``I agree, but that's just the way it is,'' former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley said.

There will be a ceremony at Dodger Stadium to honor Campanella on July 30 -- Postal Service Employees Day at the ballpark.

``Roy was a humble man and would have been proud to accept this honor, but it would be Roxie, his wife, who would have been the most excited,'' O'Malley said.

``She knew about the stamp before she died (in 2004), and was thrilled for Roy's sake. Roxie dedicated her life to caring for Roy.''

Pitcher Don Newcombe, who played with Roy during the five seasons the Brooklyn Dodgers won the National League pennant between 1949 and 1956, and on the 1955 World Series-winning team, thinks his old pal would have been happy to be remembered for his baseball accomplishments.

``I remember him as much for his accomplishments as a man -- providing support for young people living with paraplegia through the foundation he and Roxie started,'' Newcombe said.

Frank McCourt, owner and chairman of the L.A. Dodgers, said Campanella's legacy as a catcher is ``only matched by his valor after his tragic accident.''

``His life will always be an inspiration,'' McCourt said.

Campy may never have had the chance to show Los Angeles the baseball talents that landed him in the Hall of Fame, but we knew all about the man.

That's why on the night of May 7, 1959, more than 93,000 fans came to the Los Angeles Coliseum -- a temporary home field for the new L.A. Dodgers -- to salute a legend they would never see play.

Midway through the exhibition game with the Yankees, former Dodgers captain Peewee Reese pushed Campy in his wheelchair to home plate as the fans went wild.

Then the Coliseum lights were turned off, and the largest crowd to ever see a MLB game lit matches to illuminate the ballpark in Campy's honor.

Saluting the heart and soul of its new baseball team -- the L.A. Dodgers.

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- 2) Roy Campanella, one of the Brooklyn Dodgers' greatest Boys of Summer, will be honored with a new stamp at Yankee Stadium along with the Yankees' Mickey Mantle, New York Giant Mel Ott and Detroit Tiger Hank Greenberg.