Harry Chappas---1980
At 5-foot-3, Chappas was a fleet-
footed shortstop with good range and
the ability to put the ball in play, yet
never seemed comfortable with the
attention he attracted with his height,
or lack thereof. In fact, Freddie Patek,
the vertically challenged All-Star
shortstop of the Kansas City Royals
who was all of an inch taller than
Chappas, spoke with the infielder
about the challenges he faced at the
major league level.
“The White Sox organization called
me,” Patek said. “He was short and he
never did handle it very well. I think he
only played a couple of years. I talked
to him one time for about three hours.
Bless his heart, he was just real
offended because he was short and
thought people were looking down on
him or criticizing him or making fun of
him. I said, ‘Why don’t you do what I
do? Somebody’s got to be the
shortest and somebody’s got to be the
tallest.’ I told him he could make
millions in commercials in a great
media market like Chicago. He never
understood that.”
Chappas reached the major leagues
in September 1978 after hitting .302
at Class A Appleton. He batted .267 in
20 games with the White Sox and
handled 92 chances at short without a
miscue. A year later, he got off to a 1-
for-17 start with Chicago and was
optioned to Triple-A Iowa on April 20,
1979, only to return to the Chisox in
early August, when he hit at a .385
clip over his remaining 18 outings.
Inconsistency dogged him again in
1980, with Chappas hitting just .160 in
26 contests in what proved to be his
final stint in the major leagues.
5/6/08
footed shortstop with good range and
the ability to put the ball in play, yet
never seemed comfortable with the
attention he attracted with his height,
or lack thereof. In fact, Freddie Patek,
the vertically challenged All-Star
shortstop of the Kansas City Royals
who was all of an inch taller than
Chappas, spoke with the infielder
about the challenges he faced at the
major league level.
“The White Sox organization called
me,” Patek said. “He was short and he
never did handle it very well. I think he
only played a couple of years. I talked
to him one time for about three hours.
Bless his heart, he was just real
offended because he was short and
thought people were looking down on
him or criticizing him or making fun of
him. I said, ‘Why don’t you do what I
do? Somebody’s got to be the
shortest and somebody’s got to be the
tallest.’ I told him he could make
millions in commercials in a great
media market like Chicago. He never
understood that.”
Chappas reached the major leagues
in September 1978 after hitting .302
at Class A Appleton. He batted .267 in
20 games with the White Sox and
handled 92 chances at short without a
miscue. A year later, he got off to a 1-
for-17 start with Chicago and was
optioned to Triple-A Iowa on April 20,
1979, only to return to the Chisox in
early August, when he hit at a .385
clip over his remaining 18 outings.
Inconsistency dogged him again in
1980, with Chappas hitting just .160 in
26 contests in what proved to be his
final stint in the major leagues.
5/6/08
