Lost in all the drama of the continuing pandemic, presidential election conventions, and other items: August 17 marked the 100th anniversary of the only fatality on a major league baseball field. Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Naps (as the Indians were known at the time) was killed by a pitch from the New York Yankees’ […]
Tagged as:
Carl Mays,
Gary Cieradkowski,
Mike Sowell,
Molly Lawless,
Ray Chapman,
Rick Swaine
How would you like it if as a ballplayer the main reason your obituary was noteworthy was because you seriously injured someone during a game? Well, there are those who think it wouldn’t matter to you because you are, you know, dead. But I’m guessing if Jack Hamilton had not inadvertently beaned Tony Conigliaro, the […]
Tagged as:
Carl Mays,
Jack Hamilton,
Tony Conigliaro
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
Tagged as:
baseball and politics,
Baseball Cards,
Baseball Propsectus,
Bill Veeck,
Brooklyn Dodgers,
Carl Mays,
Chad Harbach,
Detroit Tigers,
Ebbets Field,
Jim Abbot,
Josh Lewin,
Molly Lawless,
Paul Dickson,
Ray Chapman,
St. Louis Cardinals,
Texas Rangers,
The Art of Fielding,
Tim Wendell
Congrats to Jerry V. from Belleville, IL, winner of the RKBB Facebook friend random selection, Hit By Pitch: Ray Chapman, Carl Mays and the Fatal Fastball by Molly Lawless. Next up: a copy of Marty Appel’s epic Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees from Before the Babe to After the Boss. Tell your friends!
Tagged as:
Carl Mays,
Marty Appel,
Molly Lawless,
New York Yankees,
Ray Chapman
♦ Recently “discovered” At Home Plate, a nice little baseball site that posts the occasional review. Recent titles include Long Taters: A Baseball Biography of George “Boomer” Scott The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast league, 1903-1957 Hit By Pitch: Ray Chapman, Carl Mays, and the Fatal Fastball Wherever I Wind Up: […]
Tagged as:
Calico Joe,
Carl Mays,
Hank Aaron,
Jim Abbott,
John Grisham,
R.A. Dickey,
Ray Chapman,
Roberto Clemente
Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman remains the only Major Leaguer to die from injuries sustained during a game, the result of being hit in head by a pitcher from Carl Mays, then with the New York Yankees, on August 17, 1920. (It should be noted that some consider the death of “Doc” Powers — a […]
Tagged as:
Carl Mays,
Molly Lawless,
Ray Chapman
Over the past few days, a number of interesting items have come my way. Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball–and America–Forever, by Tim Wendel, makes me feel old. “History” should only apply to events that took place before I was born. This was the first year I really started paying attention to baseball […]
Tagged as:
Bud Harrelson,
Carl Mays,
John Grisham,
New York Mets,
Ray Chapman,
Ron Guidry,
Yogi Berra
Two notorious players — one from the old days and one more contemporary — share a birthday today. Carl Mays, the submarining hurler for the Red Sox, Yankees, Reds, and Giants in a 15-year career, was born in 1891. Mays was the only pitcher in Major league history to kill a batter with a thrown […]
Tagged as:
Carl Mays,
Sammy Sosa
Was checking Facebook and saw an entry from Edward Achorn, author of Fifty-Nine in ’84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had, on the 90th anniversary of the day Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a Carl Mays pitch. Chapman succumbed to his injuries the following day. […]
Tagged as:
Carl Mays,
Ray Chapman
A sad reminder of a man cut down in the prime of life, the only major leaguer to die as a result of an injury sustained on the field. Chapman was hit in the head by submariner Carl Mays on August 16, 1920. His story was chronicled in The Pitch That Killed, written in 1989 […]
Tagged as:
Carl Mays,
Ray Chapman