Ray Chapman

Ray Chapman

Raymond Johnson Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American baseball player, spending his entire career as a shortstop for Cleveland.

He is notable as the only Major League Baseball player to date to have been killed in a game, when he was hit in the head by a pitch that he appeared not to have seen. His death led Major League Baseball to establish a rule requiring umpires to replace the ball whenever it became dirty. His death was also one of the examples used to emphasize the need for wearing batting helmets (although the rule was not adopted until over thirty years later).

Career

Chapman was born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky. He broke into the Major Leagues in 1912 with the Cleveland team, then known as the Naps.

Chapman led the American League in runs scored and walks in 1918. A top-notch bunter, Chapman is 6th on the all-time list for sacrifice hits. Only Stuffy McInnis has more sacrifices for right-handed batters. Chapman was also an excellent shortstop who lead the league in putouts three times and assists once. He batted .300 three times, and led the Indians in stolen bases four times. In 1917, he set a team record of 52 stolen bases, which stood until 1980. He was hitting .303 with 97 runs scored when he died.

Death

At the time of Chapman's death, "part of every pitcher's job was to dirty up a new ball the moment it was thrown onto the field. By turns, they smeared it with dirt, licorice, tobacco juice; it was deliberately scuffed, sandpapered, scarred, cut, even spiked. The result was a misshapen, earth-colored ball that traveled through the air erratically, tended to soften in the later innings, and as it came over the plate, was very hard to see."

This practice is believed to have led to Chapman's death. He was struck by a pitch by Carl Mays on August 16, 1920 in a game against the New York Yankees. Eyewitnesses recounted that he never moved out of the way of the pitch, presumably unable to see the ball. The sound of the ball crashing into Chapman's skull was so loud that Mays thought it hit his bat, fielded the ball, and threw to first base. Chapman died twelve hours later in a New York City hospital.

In tribute to Chapman's memory, Cleveland players wore black arm bands, with manager Tris Speaker leading the team to win both the pennant and the first World Championship in the history of the club. Rookie Joe Sewell took Chapman's place at shortstop, and went on to have a Hall of Fame career.

Ray Chapman is buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.

Legacy

The book The Pitch That Killed, by Mike Sowell, is a history of the Chapman-Mays tragedy.

The historical novel, The Curse of Carl Mays, by Howard Camerik, also recounts the Chapman-Mays incident.

External link

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
• The Death of Ray Chapman - NY Times, 18 August 1920