| Joe Campinha | |
| Position: | Catcher |
| Birth Date: | May 11, 1920 |
| Birth Place: | East Wareham, Massachusetts |
| Death Place: | Providence, Rhode Island |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Right |
| Debutleague: | Negro league baseball |
| Debutyear: | 1948 |
| Debutteam: | Baltimore Elite Giants |
| Finalyear: | 1948 |
| Finalteam: | Baltimore Elite Giants |
| Teams: |
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Joseph Lewis Campinha (May 11, 1920 – May 21, 2001), also known as Joe Campini, was a Cape Verdean-American Negro league catcher in the 1940s. He is believed to be the first professional baseball player of Cape Verdean descent.
A native of East Wareham, Massachusetts of Cape Verdean descent, Campinha played under the name "Campini" for the Baltimore Elite Giants in 1948. A backup for the team's regular catcher Frazier Robinson, Campinha managed a hit and a walk in two plate appearances in his one recorded game for Baltimore,[1] which may have come in April at Bugle Field against the Homestead Grays.[2] Following his stint with Baltimore, Campinha played minor league baseball with the Bangor Pickers in 1949, and the Watertown Athletics in 1950, his final season in professional baseball.[3] Campinha went on to serve in the United States Merchant Marine, and died in Providence, Rhode Island in 2001 at age 81.[4] [5]
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