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Ray Chapman

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Baseball Player

The Resume

    (January 15, 1891-August 17, 1920)
    Born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky
    Shortstop for the Cleveland Indians (August 1912-August 1920)
    Career stats: 17 home runs, 363 RBIs, .278 batting average, 233 stolen bases, 334 sacrifice hits
    Only MLB player (as of 2007) to be killed in a game when he was hit in the head at Polo Grounds by a ball thrown by NY Yankees pitcher Carl Mays (August 16, 1920)
    Died in a hospital the next day of a brain hemorrhage at age 29

Why he might be annoying:

    He either froze or never saw the ball coming because of the sun as he never moved, and it hit him in the left temple.
    The sound the ball made hitting his skull was so loud that Mays thought he hit it, fielded the ball and threw to first.
    The pitch that killed him was a 'legal' submarine spitter (Mays was cleared of any wrongdoing).
    He was set to retire after the 1920 season (and hitting .303 at the time of his death).
    Batting helmets that would have prevented the tragedy were still over 30 years from becoming mandatory.
    A bronze plaque was erected in his honor but taken down from Cleveland Municipal Stadium and lost.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He led the Indians with 52 stolen bases in 1917, a record that stood for 63 years.
    He led the American League in walks and runs with 84 each in 1918.
    The Indians wore black armbands and dedicated the rest of season to him, then went on to win their first World Series.
    In part due to the tragedy, the spitter was banned from baseball after 1920.
    A bunting specialist, he is one of only a handful of player to have over 300 sacrifice hits.
    His bronze plaque was found in a crate in February 2007, refurbished and hung proudly at Cleveland's Jacobs Field.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 96 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 18 Votes: 38.89% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 27 Votes: 48.15% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 27 Votes: 40.74% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 31 Votes: 54.84% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 91 Votes: 46.15% Annoying