Ray Chapman


Ray Chapman

Shortstop
Born: January 15, 1891; Beaver Dam, Kentucky, U.S.
Died: August 17, 1920 (aged 29)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut: August 30, 1912, for the Cleveland Indians
Last MLB appearance: August 16, 1920, for the Cleveland Indians

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

Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by pitcher Carl Mays and died 12 hours later. Mays dirtied the ball, making it difficult for Chapman to see. He is, as of 2024, the only player to die directly from an injury received during a major league game. His death led baseball to establish a rule requiring umpires to replace the ball whenever it becomes dirty. Chapman's death and sanitary concerns also led to the ban on spitballs after the 1920 season. Chapman's death was also one of the examples cited to justify the wearing of batting helmets. However, it took over 30 years to adopt the rule that required their use.

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Death


Ray Chapman's grave

On August 16, 1920, Chapman was struck in the head and killed by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays during a game against the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds. At the time, pitchers commonly dirtied balls with soil, licorice, and tobacco juice, and otherwise scuffed, sandpapered, scarred, cut, or spiked them, giving 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." Mays threw with a submarine delivery, and it was late afternoon. Eyewitnesses recounted that Chapman did not react to the pitch at all, presumably unable to see it. The sound of the ball striking Chapman's skull was so loud that Mays thought it had hit the end of Chapman's bat; he fielded the ball and threw to first base.

Home plate umpire Tommy Connolly, noticing that Chapman was bleeding from his left ear, screamed towards the stands for a doctor. Tris Speaker, who had been on deck, rushed to Chapman, as did several players from each team. Carl Mays merely stood on the mound. Chapman tried to walk, but his knees buckled. As he was helped off the field by his teammates, he mumbled "I'm all right; tell Mays not to worry... ring....Katie's ring," before falling unconscious. Chapman was taken to St. Lawrence Hospital, a short distance from the Polo Grounds, where he was diagnosed with a depressed skull fracture. Despite emergency surgery to relieve swelling on his brain, Chapman died at 4:40 a.m. the next day. His pregnant wife Katie, summoned from Cleveland by phone, arrived at 10:00 a.m. and fainted upon learning he had died.

Thousands of mourners attended Chapman's funeral at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland and he was buried at Lake View Cemetery.

Cleveland players wore black armbands for the remainder of the season. The Indians won the 1920 World Series and dedicated their victory to Chapman.

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