Ray Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American League shortstop for the Cleveland teams Naps (1912-1914) and Indians (1915-1920). Chapman was born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky. He remains the only Major League Baseball player to have been killed in a game. His death was one of the reasons the spitball was outlawed.
Chapman was struck by a pitch August 16th in a game against the New York Yankees. Carl Mays threw the pitch that struck him in the head. Chapman died twelve hours later in a hospital in New York, New York.
Cleveland players wore black arm bands to honor Chapman, and manager Tris Speaker lead the team to win both the pennant and the first World Championship in the history of the club.
After Chapman's terrible death, Joe Sewell took his place at shortstop.
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; led the Indians in stolen bases four times, and set a team record of 52 stolen bases which stood from 1917 to 1980. He was hitting .303 with 97 runs when he died. Baseball analyst Bill James has said that Chapman was "probably destined for the Hall of Fame had he lived."
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