Ray Chapman
Raymond Johnson Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American baseball player, spending his entire career as a shortstop for Cleveland.
Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by Yankees pitcher Carl Mays, and died 12 hours later. He remains the only Major League Baseball player to have died from being hit by a pitch. His death led Major League Baseball to establish a rule requiring umpires to replace the ball whenever it became dirty. His death was also one of the examples used to emphasize the need for wearing batting helmets (although the rule was not adopted until over 30 years later). His death was partially the reason MLB banned the spitball after the 1920 season.
Famous quotes containing the words ray and/or chapman:
“It has never been my object to record my dreams, just the determination to realize them.”
—Man Ray (1890–1976)
“A political organization is a transferable commodity. You could not find a better way of killing virtue than by packing it into one of these contraptions which some gang of thieves is sure to find useful.”
—John Jay Chapman (1862–1933)