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On August 16, 1920 — At the Polo Grounds Cleveland Indians Shortstop Ray Chapman, 29, is beaned by a Carl Mays pitch. A right-handed batter who crowds the plate, Chapman freezes and fails to get out of the way of the submarine delivery. He is carried from the field and dies the next day from a fractured skull. Mays, a surly, unpopular pitcher, is the target of fans’ and players’ outrage. Chapman, a Cleveland favorite since breaking in in 1912, had been married the previous year. In October his wife will receive a full World Series share, $3,986.34. The incident has no effect on Mays’s pitching. One week later he will blank Detroit, 10 – 0, and go on to win 26 and lose 11. Joe Sewell will be called up to take Chapman’s place, and for 14 years he will be the hardest man to strike out in the Major Leagues.
Mays declared this morning before he had heard that Chapman had died that the injury was due to a roughened surface on the ball. ^
“It was the umpire’s fault.” he declared”A roughened spot on a ball— sometimes even a scratch—will make a ball do queer things. The ball that hit Chapman, was a fast one that took a fierce Jump as It approached the plate. Chapman never had a chance to get out of the way. Tom Connolly the home plate umpire said he was in shock by the incident and comment by Mays.
We discuss Ray Chapman for both days August 16 and 17 on The Daily Rewind
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