A death on the field

Ray Chapman

In baseball’s long history, only one player in the major leagues dies directly of an injury sustained on the field.

That tragic moment is put into motion 104 years ago today as an errant pitch from the New York Yankees’ Carl Mays hits Cleveland’s Ray Chapman in the side of the head during a Monday afternoon game at the Polo Grounds.

The Indians already are leading 3-0 when Cleveland’s shortstop leads off the top of the fifth inning.

Carl Mays

Moments later – and five decades before batting helmets become mandatory – Chapman fails to see one of Mays’ submarine-style, sidearm deliveries and collapses to the ground with a fractured skull.

The 29-year-old Chapman is taken to nearby St. Lawrence Hospital, where he passes away in the early hours of the next day.

He never again sees his wife, Katie, who earlier reportedly convinces her husband of only 10 months to retire after the 1920 season and go into the family business.

To take Chapman’s place on the roster, the Indians bring up from the minors a 21-year-old infielder named Joe Sewell.

Sewell ends up hitting .329 in 22 games to close out the regular season before playing in all seven games of Cleveland’s World Series victory over Brooklyn.

After the Series, Chapman’s teammates vote to give his widow a full winner’s share of $3,986.

Sewell goes on to a Hall of Fame career with the Indians and Yankees.

Sewell also forever remembers his predecessor.

“I would forget I was Joe Sewell,” he says years later when remembering the 1920 World Series, “and imaging I was Ray Chapman, fighting to bring honor and glory to Cleveland.”