Campau was also a player and sometimes a manager in minor league baseball for 19 years, including stints with the New Orleans Pelicans (1887, 1892–94, 1903), Kansas City Blues (1888, 1896, 1898), Detroit Tigers/Wolverines (1889–90, 1894–95), Seattle Yannigans/Rainmakers (1896), Grand Rapids Bob-o-links (1897), Rochester Bronchos (1899–1900), and Binghamton Bingoes (1901, 1903–05). Although minor league records from the 1880s and 1890s are incomplete, Campau is known to have tallied at least 2,115 hits, 1,305 runs, 597 stolen bases, 157 triples, and 125 home runs in his minor league career.\n', '

Charles Columbus Campau was born in Detroit in 1863. He was a descendant of the French-Canadian Campau family that was among the founders of the City of Detroit. Like other members of his family, Campau was educated at Notre Dame (in the 19th century, Notre Dame included primary as well as college education). Campau stated that he first played baseball while attending Notre Dame in 1875, at which time he would have been 11 years old. After leaving Notre Dame, Campau helped Detroit\'s Cass Club team win several Michigan championships.\n', '

Campau\'s success as a baseball player is largely attributed to two talents: power and speed. He is probably most referenced in baseball\'s record books for having won the American Association\'s home run championship in 1890. Although minor records from the 1880s and 1890s are incomplete, he hit at least 135 home runs in his professional baseball career, including a high of 20 home runs in 1894. This he accomplished during a deadball era before the home run became a major offensive weapon in baseball. His power was surprising, too, given his slight build at 5 feet, 11 inches, and 160 pounds. In its obituary of Campau, the 1939 Spalding Guide wrote that, despite his slight build, Campau "seemed to get extraordinary power from his wrists and arms".\n', '

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