Four of the five scheduled games took place on August 16, 1920, but only one of them goes down in history.. The Indians came into New York to play the Yankees at the Polo Grounds with 1/2 game separating the top three teams in the AL. Cleveland stood in first place, percentage points ahead of Chicago, and 1/2 game ahead of the Yankees. Tragedy, not the pennant race, would make this game memorable.
The Indians led 3-0 when their shortstop, Ray Chapman, came up to lead off the top of the fifth inning. Chapman batted second behind leftfielder Charlie Jamieson, and both came into the game with outstanding on-base percentages. In the first inning, Jamieson singled and Chapman bunted him over. In the third inning Jamieson singled, and once again Chapman bunted, but popped into a double play. Chapman did not need to bunt in the fifth inning.
The news story describes what happened next:
The Indians shortstop was standing at the plate in the fifth inning when Mays shot a fast curve at him. Chapman did not dodge in time, and the ball struck him on the left temple. He dropped instantly, and shortly after being lifted to his feet he lapsed into unconsciousness.
…
The blow struck by the ball was a terrific one. The ball rebounded from the batter’s head and rolled back toward the pitcher’s box. At first it was thought that Chapman might have been fatally hurt, but Dr. James Cassio, who made the examination in the clubhouse, said that the injuries were serious, but not fatal, and that Chapman would have to undergo an immediate operation to relieve pressure on the brain and then go through a long period of convalescence.
New York Tribune
As the paper went to print, Chapman was on the operating table for a midnight procedure. He did not survive the surgery. His biography at SABR describes the incident in more detail:
That afternoon — rainy and dark — the Indians were in New York for a game against the Yankees at the Polo Grounds. The Yankees’ starting pitcher, right-hander Carl Mays, was a surly man unpopular with both his teammates and other players. One of the few hurlers who threw underhand, Mays had a reputation as someone who liked to pitch batters tight. “Carl slings the pill from his toes,” wrote Baseball Magazine in 1918, “has a weird looking wind-up and in action looks like a cross between an octopus and a bowler. He shoots the ball in at the batter at such unexpected angles that his delivery is hard to find, generally, until along about 5 o’clock, when the hitters get accustomed to it — and when the game is about over.”
Chapman was 0 for 1 when he led off the fifth inning with Cleveland ahead 3-0. With a count of one ball and one strike, Chapman, who batted and threw right-handed, hunched, as usual, over the plate, waiting for the next pitch. He always popped back when the ball was thrown. Mays looked in and, detecting that Chapman was slightly shifting his back foot — probably to push the ball down the first base line — released a fastball, high and targeting the inside corner. The gray blur sliced through the heavy, humid air, possibly a strike. Chapman did not move.
Many of the players and 20,000 fans heard an “explosive sound” — Babe Ruth said it was audible where he stood far out in right field. Sportswriter Fred Lieb, sitting in the downstairs press box about fifty feet behind the umpire, heard a “sickening thud.” The ball dribbled out toward the pitcher’s mound on the first base side. Mays fielded it and threw it to first baseman Wally Pipp for the out, apparently thinking the ball had struck the bat. Pipp turned to throw the ball around the infield, but froze when he glanced home. Chapman had sunk to his knees, his face contorted, blood streaming from his left ear. Yankee catcher Muddy Ruel tried to catch Chapman as his knees buckled. Umpire Tommy Connolly ran toward the grandstand yelling for a doctor. Speaker rushed over from the on-deck circle to tend to his stricken friend, who was trying to sit. Speaker thought Chapman wanted to get up and rush Mays. Finally, two doctors (one of them a Yankee team physician) arrived, applied ice and revived Chapman. He walked under his own power across the infield toward the clubhouse in center field, but his knees gave way again near second base. Two teammates grabbed the shortstop, put his arms around their shoulders, and carried him the rest of the way.
Mays remained near the mound, showed the ball to umpire Connolly, and told him that the fateful pitch had been a “sailer”; a rough spot on its surface had caused it to move further inside than he expected. (That summer AL owners had complained to League President Ban Johnson that umpires were running up expenses by throwing out too many balls unnecessarily, so Johnson issued a notice ordering umpires to “keep the balls in the games as much as possible, except those which were dangerous.” Thus, teams often played with balls that were scuffed and browned by dirt and tobacco juice.) The game continued, eventually a 4 — 3 Indian victory.
SABR.org
While too many players died during their playing careers, Chapman remains the only one to die as a result of actions in a game. He finished with a .278/.358/.377 slash line, great for a shortstop of that era. He produced 29.2 rWAR in nine seasons, and was at 3.9 rWAR in 1920, and probably would have ended up with his second or third best season. Despite this tragedy, helmets would not become required until 1956 in the National League and 1958 in the American League.
Chapman’s death is one of the reasons I am in favor of long suspensions for pitchers who intentionally hit batters. It is a violent and possibly deadly act that needs to end.
Terry Pluto delves deeper into the life of Chapman from the Cleveland perspective.
For completeness, best offensive game of the day goes to Steve O’Neill of the Indians, three for four with a home run. Best pitched game of the day goes to Ray Fisher of Cincinnati, who beats the Cubs 9-1 Fisher allowed eight hits and no walks while striking out three.
The Indians increase their lead to half a game over the White Sox and 1 1/2 games over the Yankees. In the NL, the Dodgers had an off day and now lead the Reds by 1/2 game, the Giants by 2 1/2 games.
