Campanis Resigns

LOS ANGELES--Al Campanis, vice president of player personnel for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has resigned after making controversial statements on national television statements on national television regarding Blacks in baseball, the club said yesterday.

Dodgers' President Peter O'Malley requested that the 70-year-old Campanis resign and he did, according to club spokeswoman Mary Ann Hudson.

"Mr. O'Malley asked Mr. Campanis for his resignation," Hudson said. "He felt that the comments that were made by Mr. Campanis on 'Nightline' [Monday night] were so far removed from the beliefs of the Dodger organization that he asked him to step down."

Campanis has been the Dodgers' vice president of player personnel since 1968 and a member of the club's organization since 1943.

Campanis appeared on the "Nightline" show from Houston, where the Dodgers had opened their season Monday night. He was asked why there were no Black field managers and few Blacks in baseball positions.

"I don't believe it's prejudice," Campanis told Ted Koppel, the host of the ABC-TV show. "I truly believe they [Blacks] may not have some of the necessities to be, let's say, a field manager or perhaps a general manager. So it just might be--why Black men, or Black people, are not good swimmers? They just don't have the buoyancy."