THE DODGERS’ FIRST LADY

Roxie Campanella can see her husband’s picture from her club-level seats next to the press box in Dodger Stadium. Roy Campanella is one of the Dodger greats whose retired number and image adorn the outfield wall.

Though it has been six years since Campy’s death, his widow, Roxie, still goes to every Dodger home game and sits in the seats they shared in his lifetime.

“This has been part of my life for a long, long time,” Roxie says. “When I leave the house to come to the ballgame, I feel like I’m coming home.”

Roxie herself has become a part of the Dodger home experience.

“So many people come by and speak to me about my husband, ask how I am doing and want to know about the life we had together and that sort of keeps him alive for me,” she says. “And besides, I enjoy the games.”

In a disappointing season of underachievement and unrealized expectations, the Dodgers have at least one fan who has not wavered in her support.

“She’s always very positive,” General Manager Kevin Malone says. “She’s a quality lady. She sort of typifies the Dodgers in her class, her uniqueness, her specialness. She tells about the past, but she can also see the future.”

Roxie sees a lot from her Dodger seats, just as Roy once did.

“He’d sit right by me in his wheelchair where I’m sitting today,” she says. “If anybody made a mistake on that field, he would go down there and talk to them.

“It was so wonderful. One day, I’ll never forget, Pedro Guerrero wasn’t hitting anything and Roy saw something and left me and I didn’t know where he was going. He came back from the clubhouse and said, ‘I had to go down and talk to Guerrero. He had his feet in the wrong place in the batter’s box.’ ”

Guerrero later hit a home run that day.

It all made Roxie marvel.

“I used to wonder how Roy could see all these things and he’d just say, ‘I played baseball.’ ”

That he did. The Hall of Fame catcher won three most-valuable-player awards, five pennants and a World Series in 1955 with the Brooklyn Dodgers before his career was tragically halted in the 1958 auto accident that left him paralyzed. Now Roxie visits the players before games.

“I go down and talk to the fellas sometimes in the dugout,” she says. “I like to see the guys that play, especially my favorite guy, Todd Hundley. He’s happy to see me and I’m happy to see him, to give him some encouragement. I enjoy it.”

The bond Roxie shares with the current Dodger catcher was forged in 1996, when Hundley was still with the Mets and broke Campy’s record for home runs by a catcher with 41. Hundley speaks fondly of their first meeting.

“She gave me her blessing and said, ‘Roy always said that record was made to be broken so go for it and I wish you all the best in the world,’ ” Hundley says.

Both from Virginia, the two felt instantly comfortable with each other.

“She reminds me of my own family,” Hundley says. “She’s just a classy lady and I love seeing her here at the ballpark. She makes it feel more like home.”

For Hundley, Campy is the standard.

“If you look at his career numbers, they’re just unbelievable,” he says. “And to do it in New York, when he was with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and then for me to break the record in New York, that was something very special.”

And now, as in fulfillment of some fitting destiny, Hundley plays for Campy’s team.

“I admire him because I know how tough it is to play on a day-to-day basis and put up both offensive and defensive numbers as a catcher, but he did it year in and year out,” Hundley says. “When Roy was playing and healthy, he was just one of the best to ever walk the face of the earth.”

And Roxie wears the proof. She has converted Roy’s pennant, World Series and Hall of Fame rings into a necklace. In an era when high-salaried players flaunt their fortunes with gaudy gold chains, this is one necklace they can’t buy. For Dodger pitcher Ismael Valdes, it doesn’t go unnoticed.

“I think every ballplayer wants to have a world championship ring, a Hall of Fame ring like her husband did.” Valdes says. “You see them and it helps you to play, to fight for whatever you want.”

But Valdes’ admiration for Roxie extends beyond her jewelry.

“It’s an honor to talk to her because she reminds me how tough her husband was and at the same time she’s always been so kind and so nice to me. Whenever we talk she always has a smile on her face.”

First baseman Eric Karros is also a fan.

“Roxie’s been around here for my entire career,” he says. “She’s a link to the past, a link to Dodger tradition. She always tells us stories about what Roy used to go through, so whenever I get a chance to talk to her, I definitely make the time.”

And Karros points out, “Roxie’s very active in the community.”

Indeed, Roxie’s focus is never very far from the Roy and Roxie Campanella Foundation that benefits disabled youngsters. The foundation seeks to provide attendants for handicapped children and grants for those studying to become physical therapists. Money is raised through contributions and the annual celebrity Campanella Golf Classic, scheduled this year at the Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach on Nov. 11.

“I started this golf tournament because Roy wanted to do this to help people that were handicapped and disabled,” Roxie says. “When he got hurt, if they had had physical therapy like they do now, he may have come much further.”

Roxie is on a constant search for sponsors, participants and contributors. Her goal is “to help the people that are handicapped to have a normal life, to have a good life like Roy had, because they can do anything that anyone else can do.” And sometimes, as in Roy’s case, they know how to do it better.

“He would go down to spring training and train the catchers and pitchers,” Roxie recalls. “I think doing these things made Roy very happy and I know it was appreciated. That’s what made baseball.”

Conversely, she is appalled by the lack of that appreciation in some current star players, which is characterized by their outlandish behavior, self-centered play and public tirades. She believes the African American stars of today have special responsibilities for their image.

“Roy paved the way for them and they have to be an example to the next generation,” she says. “He helped make their place here possible and they should treat it with respect.”

Indeed, this season is the 50th anniversary of Dodgers Campanella, Jackie Robinson and Don Newcombe and Cleveland’s Larry Doby becoming the first black ballplayers to make baseball’s All-Star game. For Roxie, that milestone and the memory of Campy’s Dodger teammates stand as examples.

“The team played together,” she says. “They had the talent and they loved each other. That’s what they should have today. Be together, play together, love each other and help each other.”

With the home season over, Roxie has said goodbye to her seats. They are being ripped out and replaced with luxury suites. Roxie doesn’t know where she’ll be sitting next year, but she has every confidence the Dodgers will take care of her.

According to Malone, Roxie needn’t worry.

“When I see Roxie, I see tradition. I see Dodger history. I see what made the Dodgers great people. I just see a true Dodger when I see Roxie,” he says. “As far as I’m concerned, she should have a seat here forever.”

Roxie hopes, wherever it is, she’ll have a clear view of her husband’s likeness on the outfield wall. Because “it feels like home,” she says. “It really does.”

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Screenwriter Devra Maza is writing a baseball movie called “The Show” and frequently writes about film and baseball.