One of the mainstays of the Athletics' championship teams of 1972 to 1974, he holds the A's franchise records for career games played (1795), hits (1882), and at bats (7180).

[3] Campaneris attracted the attention of major league scouts while playing with the Cuba national baseball team at the 1961 Amateur World Series, along with Tito Fuentes and José Miguel Pineda.

In his debut with Kansas City on July 23, 1964, Campaneris hit two home runs, the first coming on the first pitch thrown to him by Jim Kaat of the Minnesota Twins.

[6][7][8][9] He is one of only five players in major league history to hit two home runs in his first game; Bob Nieman (1951), Mark Quinn (1999), J. P. Arencibia (2010), and Trevor Story (2016) are the others to accomplish this feat.

[citation needed] In 1965, Campaneris led Kansas City in batting average (.270),[10] and shared the league lead in triples (twelve, with 1965 AL MVP Zoilo Versailles)[11] and stolen bases (51).

[2] In 1966 he finished tenth in the voting for the AL's Most Valuable Player award after having a similar season at the plate but playing more regularly at shortstop.

[17][14] In Game 2 of the 1972 American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers, Campaneris already had three hits, two steals, and two runs when he faced pitcher Lerrin LaGrow in the seventh inning.

[18][19][21] MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn added a seven-day suspension to the start of the next season but permitted Campaneris to play in the World Series victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

In May 1979, he was traded to the California Angels, splitting time at shortstop over the next two seasons with Jim Anderson and Freddie Patek before playing as a reserve third baseman in 1981.

After spending 1982 in the Mexican League, Campaneris returned to the majors in 1983 with Billy Martin's New York Yankees, where he batted a career-high .322 in sixty games at second and third base before retiring.

[14] His 649 stolen bases place him fourteenth in major league history, behind only Ty Cobb and Eddie Collins in the AL.[23] His Athletics record of 566 steals was broken by Rickey Henderson in 1990.

[24] In 1965, Campaneris became the first player to play every position in a major league game in a thirteen-inning 5–3 loss to the California Angels at Municipal Stadium on September 8.

[29] On March 12, 2015, actor Will Ferrell played in five Major League Baseball Spring training games at all nine positions to honor Campaneris.