Ray Chapman story is truly one of kind
In the history of major league baseball, there have been many tragic stories of players who met their fate both on and off the field. Only one player has died from injuries suffered as the result of a thrown pitch. That incident occurred during the heat of the pennant race of 1920.
The two players involved are well known to students and fans of baseball history. The book titled, The Pitch That Killed (1989, McMillan/Ivan R. Dee, publisher) by Mike Sowell is fascinating reading about the events leading up to the incident, as well as the aftermath. It’s a book that no baseball library collection should be without. There are a few photos of principles and an eerie box score for the game included amongst the pages, but it’s the words and descriptions in the text that provide the true images of baseball at that period of time. It’s also very interesting to see the many similarities and differences can be drawn between the time period the tragic event took place versus today, and to think of how it may have been reported, if not exploited, by the media by the way news is reported in the present age.
In 1909, Michael “Doc” Powers, a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, died from surgical complications two weeks after suffering internal injuries received after crashing into a wall while chasing a foul pop-up at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park.
Ray Chapman (above left) was an established star with the Cleveland Indians. He was a consistent hitter, an excellent bunter who had outstanding speed, and he excelled as a fielder at his shortstop position. However it was his personality and team leadership that won him the adoration of fans, both on and off the field, and in high places of society too. Ironically, at the age of 29, he was in the midst of possibly what could have been his best season up to that time, hitting .303 when the fatal pitch was thrown.
The pitcher,
Carl Mays, was a controversial character that would log five 20-win seasons in a career stretching 15 seasons. Mays, at the age of 28, had been traded from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees during the 1919 season. It was a move that raised many eyebrows, if not the ire of many owners in the game at the time. Mays had held a personal strike, possibly somewhat connected to his relationship with teammate
Babe Ruth, but also out of concern for owner
Harry Frazee “trading” players for money because of his theater interests. Ruth would also be "traded" to New York after the end of the 1919 season.
It was August 16, 1920, when Chapman stepped into the batters box during an American League game at New York between two teams fighting for the top spot in what was then an eight-team league. Mays threw submarine style and was famous for his
spitball, which was legal at the time. Later, witnesses who were present at the game were claimed to have said that the fatal pitch either froze Chapman in his stance or that it just looked like he never saw the ball coming in the direction of his head. Although he was briefly conscious and said to have even expressed embarrassment after the blow, he would die the next day from a severe skull facture.
This incident eventually led to the banning of the spitball and the eventual adoption of the batting helmet. It must be noted that it took many years before players accepted the helmet as something more than an impediment to their on field performance and image.
The book chronicles not only the two players’ careers and personal lives, but also includes interesting anecdotal information regarding players and owners including Hall of Famers Ruth and
Tris Speaker, Sox owner Harry Frazee, and baseball history in general.
The book may have been published 20 years ago, but its timeless in how it captures the story of how paths can come together to create a tragedy, its affect on the lives of others, and in the end, how life moves on.
If you are willing to share your collecting story, please send me a note at dsl417@msn.com and maybe we can share it with readers.
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Ray Chapman story is truly one of kind
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