Ray Chapman--1920
On This Date in Major League
History, August 16, 1920…
Ninety years ago the baseball world was
rocked when Cleveland's Ray Chapman
was beaned by Yankee hurler Carl Mays
and subsequently died the next day.
A .280-hitting shortstop who crowded the
plate, Chapman froze on a pitch that was
high-and-tight from the submariner
during the fifth inning of a Indians-
Yankees showdown. Discolored from the
pitchers' act of rubbing dirt and juices,
Chapman never saw the darkened ball in
the twilight afternoon sky. Accounts say
that Mays' pitch struck Chapman's skull
with such force, that the loud sound of
the ball impacting Chapman's skull
prompted the pitcher to field and toss the
ball to first base thinking that the ball hit
the infielder's bat.
The tragedy would later be a key factor
in a rule that dictated new balls be put
into play by the umpire when the spheres
became soiled and also the abolishment
of the spitball.
With heavy hearts, the Tribe would
persevere in capturing the American
League pennant in 1920; ultimately
winning the World Championship by
downing Brooklyn in the Fall Classic.
A defensive wizard whose stolen base
club record stood for decades (52 SB in
1917) for Cleveland, Chapman would
forever be remembered as the second
major league player to lose his life on the
diamond.
(8/17/10)
History, August 16, 1920…
Ninety years ago the baseball world was
rocked when Cleveland's Ray Chapman
was beaned by Yankee hurler Carl Mays
and subsequently died the next day.
A .280-hitting shortstop who crowded the
plate, Chapman froze on a pitch that was
high-and-tight from the submariner
during the fifth inning of a Indians-
Yankees showdown. Discolored from the
pitchers' act of rubbing dirt and juices,
Chapman never saw the darkened ball in
the twilight afternoon sky. Accounts say
that Mays' pitch struck Chapman's skull
with such force, that the loud sound of
the ball impacting Chapman's skull
prompted the pitcher to field and toss the
ball to first base thinking that the ball hit
the infielder's bat.
The tragedy would later be a key factor
in a rule that dictated new balls be put
into play by the umpire when the spheres
became soiled and also the abolishment
of the spitball.
With heavy hearts, the Tribe would
persevere in capturing the American
League pennant in 1920; ultimately
winning the World Championship by
downing Brooklyn in the Fall Classic.
A defensive wizard whose stolen base
club record stood for decades (52 SB in
1917) for Cleveland, Chapman would
forever be remembered as the second
major league player to lose his life on the
diamond.
(8/17/10)
