Ray Chapman was the only professional baseball player to be killed by a pitched ball. An outstanding shortstop for the Cleveland Indians, Chapman was the lead-off batter in the top of the fifth inning in a game against the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds in New York City on August 16, 1920. New York Yankees pitcher Carl Mays, using his distinctive underhand style, tossed a fast spitball that came high and inside, breaking Chapman's cranium with an audible pop. The ball dribbled toward Mays who fielded it and threw to the first baseman before realizing that the sound he had heard was not the crack of the bat. Chapman fell to the ground, blood rushing from his ear, and remained motionless in the dirt for several minutes. He then struggled to his feet with his teammates' assistance and took a few halting steps toward the clubhouse before collapsing again. After that he never regained consciousness and died at St. Lawrence Hospital the following morning. According to news accounts, the pitched ball had left a 3½-inch depressed fracture in his skull. Chapman's death led to two rule changes the following season. The spitball was banned, although established pitchers who threw spitters were given a grandfather clause and permitted to continue pitching spitballs for the remainder of their careers. It was thought that Chapman must have been unable to see the ball clearly as it approached, so the other rule change instructed umpires to replace the game ball whenever it became soiled and less than brilliantly white -- an expense that team owners had previously resisted. Batting helmets were not required until 1971. Mays was exonerated of any wrongdoing after a brief inquest by the Homicide Bureau of the District Attorney's office. Chapman's wife, pregnant at the time of his death, remarried two years later and killed herself by drinking poison in 1928. Their daughter died in a measles outbreak the following spring.
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