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The Pitch That Killed: The Story of Carl Mays, Ray Chapman, and the Pennant Race of 1920
Since major league baseball began in 1871, there have been roughly thirty million pitches thrown to batters. Only one of them killed a man. This is the story of Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians, a popular player struck in the head and killed in August 1920 by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. Was it, as most baseball observers thought at the time, a tragic but unavoidable accident? Mike Sowell's brilliant book investigates the incident and probes deep into the backgrounds of the players involved and the events that led to one of baseball's darkest moments. "The best baseball book no one has read." ESPN Magazine "Splendidly researched and vivid as today. The portraits of baseball as it was, the tragedy itself, and the glowering character of Carl Mays are remarkable." Roger Kahn"
352 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1989
61 people are currently reading
1113 people want to read
About the author
Mike Sowell
7 books8 followersMike Sowell is a sports historian and the author of three baseball books, including The Pitch That Killed about Ray Chapman and Carl Mays. Named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times in 1989,[citation needed] and winner of the CASEY Award for best baseball book of 1989,[1] The Pitch That Killed tells the story of the only on-field fatality in major league baseball history, when the Yankees' Mays beaned the Indians' Chapman in the final weeks of the 1920 American League pennant race.[2]
Sowell also wrote about baseball tragedies in his other books. One Pitch Away, about the 1986 baseball postseason and the key players involved, featured Donnie Moore, the Angels pitcher whose suicide two years later was linked to his role in the 1986 ALCS, and Bill Buckner, whose 20-year career was tainted by missing a ground ball in Game 6 of the World Series.[3] July 2, 1903 explored the mysterious death of Hall-of-Famer Ed Delahanty, who died after being swept over Niagara Falls.[4]
In addition to his books and articles on baseball history, Sowell wrote the text for Cardtoons, a set of baseball parody cards that led to a lawsuit with the Major League Baseball Players Association.[5][6] In Cardtoons v. MLBPA, the court ruled in 1996 that the cards parodying the players and their greed were protected by the First Amendment.[7][8]
Sowell, a former sportswriter for the Tulsa Tribune,[2] is now a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University.[9] He was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2007.[10][11]
Sowell also wrote about baseball tragedies in his other books. One Pitch Away, about the 1986 baseball postseason and the key players involved, featured Donnie Moore, the Angels pitcher whose suicide two years later was linked to his role in the 1986 ALCS, and Bill Buckner, whose 20-year career was tainted by missing a ground ball in Game 6 of the World Series.[3] July 2, 1903 explored the mysterious death of Hall-of-Famer Ed Delahanty, who died after being swept over Niagara Falls.[4]
In addition to his books and articles on baseball history, Sowell wrote the text for Cardtoons, a set of baseball parody cards that led to a lawsuit with the Major League Baseball Players Association.[5][6] In Cardtoons v. MLBPA, the court ruled in 1996 that the cards parodying the players and their greed were protected by the First Amendment.[7][8]
Sowell, a former sportswriter for the Tulsa Tribune,[2] is now a journalism professor at Oklahoma State University.[9] He was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2007.[10][11]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
May 14, 2017
Most baseball fans know about Ray Chapman being the only player to die because of an on-the-field incident when he was beaned by Carl Mays. These same fans may also know that he was very popular, not just with the fans of the Cleveland Indians but also is teammates. Then they may also be aware that Mays was not very popular, even before this tragedy, with the players, teammates and opponents alike.
Just these topics would make a good book, but author Mike Sowell takes these and crafts an even better book by giving readers a complete picture of not only Mays and Chapman and that fateful day of August 16, 1920, but by including so many other key baseball men such as Tris Speaker (the Indians manager), Babe Ruth and Miller Huggins, the reader gets the complete picture of the men involved and the lead-up to that fateful pitch.
Mays was known as a trouble maker before arriving to the Yankees from his days with the Boston Red Sox. It didn’t affect his pitching as he had success with both teams and was a key member of the Yankees staff as they were involved in a three team pennant race with the Indians and the Chicago White Sox. His pitching was affected, however by a new rule that was enacted to disallow trick pitches. Mays’ underhanded delivery was deemed to be this, but he still threw in that manner that was effective and hard for a batter to pick up, as would be horribly on display during an at bat by Ray Chapman.
Chapman, on the other hand, was a young player on the rise with the Indians. A gifted shortstop, he was becoming a better player and gaining the confidence of his teammates. Newly married and expecting his first child, the young man seemed to have the world in his hands when he stepped up to the plate during a game against the Yankees. A pitch from Mays was coming in high and tight on Chapman, who never saw it coming. It hit him in the left temple and he was knocked to the ground bleeding and unconscious. He was able to make if off the field with help from his teammates, but died the next day in the hospital.
Just this alone would make a good book, but Sowell turns it into fascinating reading by including many details on both Mays and Chapman, such as when Mays told his wife in 1918 that he may have needed to do something “out of the ordinary” to get his name in the papers, or that Chapman may have retired after the 1920 season after promising his father-in-law to consider giving up the game to run their successful family business. Sowell also weaves the tight American League pennant race into the story along with other people that makes story of Chapman’s death even more completing. Little items such as Speaker getting involved in the decision on where to bury Chapman, a New York writer who tried to implicate Mays in throwing games during the 1921 World Series and the talk of players boycotting any game in which Mays was the pitcher.
All of this and more makes this book one that every baseball fan and historian must read. Even though I had known about this book for many years, I never picked it up until it was selected as a book of the month in an online baseball book club. My only problem with that is that now I am kicking myself for waiting so long to read it.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
Just these topics would make a good book, but author Mike Sowell takes these and crafts an even better book by giving readers a complete picture of not only Mays and Chapman and that fateful day of August 16, 1920, but by including so many other key baseball men such as Tris Speaker (the Indians manager), Babe Ruth and Miller Huggins, the reader gets the complete picture of the men involved and the lead-up to that fateful pitch.
Mays was known as a trouble maker before arriving to the Yankees from his days with the Boston Red Sox. It didn’t affect his pitching as he had success with both teams and was a key member of the Yankees staff as they were involved in a three team pennant race with the Indians and the Chicago White Sox. His pitching was affected, however by a new rule that was enacted to disallow trick pitches. Mays’ underhanded delivery was deemed to be this, but he still threw in that manner that was effective and hard for a batter to pick up, as would be horribly on display during an at bat by Ray Chapman.
Chapman, on the other hand, was a young player on the rise with the Indians. A gifted shortstop, he was becoming a better player and gaining the confidence of his teammates. Newly married and expecting his first child, the young man seemed to have the world in his hands when he stepped up to the plate during a game against the Yankees. A pitch from Mays was coming in high and tight on Chapman, who never saw it coming. It hit him in the left temple and he was knocked to the ground bleeding and unconscious. He was able to make if off the field with help from his teammates, but died the next day in the hospital.
Just this alone would make a good book, but Sowell turns it into fascinating reading by including many details on both Mays and Chapman, such as when Mays told his wife in 1918 that he may have needed to do something “out of the ordinary” to get his name in the papers, or that Chapman may have retired after the 1920 season after promising his father-in-law to consider giving up the game to run their successful family business. Sowell also weaves the tight American League pennant race into the story along with other people that makes story of Chapman’s death even more completing. Little items such as Speaker getting involved in the decision on where to bury Chapman, a New York writer who tried to implicate Mays in throwing games during the 1921 World Series and the talk of players boycotting any game in which Mays was the pitcher.
All of this and more makes this book one that every baseball fan and historian must read. Even though I had known about this book for many years, I never picked it up until it was selected as a book of the month in an online baseball book club. My only problem with that is that now I am kicking myself for waiting so long to read it.
http://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/201...
October 5, 2018
Impeccably researched book that is a twin bio of Ray Chapman and Carl Mays. In August 1920 Ray Chapman, an all star shortstop and an extremely popular player for Cleveland, was beaned in a game at the New York Polo grounds by Carl Mays, the submarine pitcher of the Yankees. The pitch ricocheted off Chapman’s temple and blood was everywhere. Chapman was quickly transported to the hospital and lost consciousness en route. He died the next morning of brain clotting despite doctors’ efforts to relieve pressure on his brain. His funeral was attended by thousands of fans.
Mays, the pitcher, routinely led the league in hitting batters and despite an excellent pitching record had a very poor reputation among other players. Ty Cobb on more than one occasion threatened to do him bodily harm if he continued to pitch high and tight. There is no evidence that Mays meant to bean Chapman and there is evidence he was truly remorseful. After some teams boycotted him, with the league’s help he went on to a hall of fame worthy career. He never made it into the Hall of Fame ostensibly because many fans and sportswriters believe he tried to throw the 1921 series.
This book is very dense on facts and unquestionably is the authoritative read on Chapman and Mays and the beaning. So five stars on research, probably three stars on the writing. There was a lot of superfluous information such as a chapter on Chapman’s replacement, Ray Sewell, that while factual seemed wholly out of place and the tone did not fit well with the tragedy.
So glad I read the book as I learned a lot although it could have been a hundred fewer pages. I would have liked to see more quotes from sportswriters of this period and on the editing side longer paragraphs would be easier for reading.
Mays, the pitcher, routinely led the league in hitting batters and despite an excellent pitching record had a very poor reputation among other players. Ty Cobb on more than one occasion threatened to do him bodily harm if he continued to pitch high and tight. There is no evidence that Mays meant to bean Chapman and there is evidence he was truly remorseful. After some teams boycotted him, with the league’s help he went on to a hall of fame worthy career. He never made it into the Hall of Fame ostensibly because many fans and sportswriters believe he tried to throw the 1921 series.
This book is very dense on facts and unquestionably is the authoritative read on Chapman and Mays and the beaning. So five stars on research, probably three stars on the writing. There was a lot of superfluous information such as a chapter on Chapman’s replacement, Ray Sewell, that while factual seemed wholly out of place and the tone did not fit well with the tragedy.
So glad I read the book as I learned a lot although it could have been a hundred fewer pages. I would have liked to see more quotes from sportswriters of this period and on the editing side longer paragraphs would be easier for reading.
May 18, 2017
4.5 Stars
The Pitch that Killed, by Mike Sowell, is a true story of a Cleveland Indians shortstop, Ray Chapman, who was hit in the head by Yankee pitcher, Carl Mays during play on August 15, 1920. Chapman, known as "Chappie", by his teammates and, well, everyone, died in the early hours the next morning. Luckily this is the only time a player was killed by a pitched ball in Major League Baseball. Needless to say, the suddenness of Chappie's death devastated his recently wedded and pregnant wife, his teammates, family, the Cleveland community, and baseball in general. The fallout hit everyone including Mays, the pitcher.
It's hard to say you enjoyed reading a book about a death in sports, but Mike Sowell did a great job of bookending the tragedy with portraits of the two players and games played that season. Great baseball legends were playing at the time, like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, which allowed Sowell to add a lot of "history in the making" stories.
Some good came out of Chappie's death. His superior fielding and batting had already helped develop the Indians into contenders for the Pennant, and the Indians finished the season as the World Series Champs. Secondly because of the tragedy, players were eventually required to wear protective headgear.
To fill the now vacant shortstop position, the Cleveland Indians brought up a 21 year old player from the minor leagues. His name was Joe Sewell and although he had never played at that level before, his debut was the start of an amazing career. He was eventually inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. On the train ride to Cleveland to start his new job, he was scared to death. He thought that the only way he could play in the Majors, was to believe he was "Chappie" reincarnated. Of course he told no one but that is how he mentally prepared.
Sowell, did a great job of writing an interesting book about a sad subject. He did his research well.
The Pitch that Killed, by Mike Sowell, is a true story of a Cleveland Indians shortstop, Ray Chapman, who was hit in the head by Yankee pitcher, Carl Mays during play on August 15, 1920. Chapman, known as "Chappie", by his teammates and, well, everyone, died in the early hours the next morning. Luckily this is the only time a player was killed by a pitched ball in Major League Baseball. Needless to say, the suddenness of Chappie's death devastated his recently wedded and pregnant wife, his teammates, family, the Cleveland community, and baseball in general. The fallout hit everyone including Mays, the pitcher.
It's hard to say you enjoyed reading a book about a death in sports, but Mike Sowell did a great job of bookending the tragedy with portraits of the two players and games played that season. Great baseball legends were playing at the time, like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, which allowed Sowell to add a lot of "history in the making" stories.
Some good came out of Chappie's death. His superior fielding and batting had already helped develop the Indians into contenders for the Pennant, and the Indians finished the season as the World Series Champs. Secondly because of the tragedy, players were eventually required to wear protective headgear.
To fill the now vacant shortstop position, the Cleveland Indians brought up a 21 year old player from the minor leagues. His name was Joe Sewell and although he had never played at that level before, his debut was the start of an amazing career. He was eventually inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. On the train ride to Cleveland to start his new job, he was scared to death. He thought that the only way he could play in the Majors, was to believe he was "Chappie" reincarnated. Of course he told no one but that is how he mentally prepared.
Sowell, did a great job of writing an interesting book about a sad subject. He did his research well.
May 26, 2017
Whereas accounts of the Black Sox scandal of 1919 feel like ancient history to me, Sowell makes this book about the 1920 season seem modern. The moment we lose Ray Chapman in the story is heartbreaking. You feel the loss although every person in the story is long since dead. I had heard of Chapman previously, but I didn't know he was so popular. He was just an answer to a trivia question. It turns out that he was funny and humble and married to an heiress. 1920 may have even been his last season as a player because his father-in-law would have paid him more in the family business.
I knew a little more about pitcher Carl Mays coming in, but I didn't know he was so despised. That Ty Cobb comes off as level-headed in his dislike of Mays was surprising. And yet Sowell does a great job of explaining how Mays was his own worst enemy and not an altogether bad person taken as a whole. Mays did what Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale did in the 1960s.
The book also takes the time to recall the pennant race that year with Cleveland fighting against the defending A.L. Champion White Sox and the Yankees in their first year with Babe Ruth. Ruth gets a good deal of ink as he was teammates with Mays in New York and Boston. Tris Speaker is also prominent as the Indians player-manager and star Centerfielder. I had never read anything biographical about Speaker before this. I had no idea that he was a Texan. I didn't know he had ever managed in the big leagues.
I think what makes the book easy to read is that is seems more like good reporting than history. The reader gets information and smooth delivery and can draw their own conclusions about the disputes and meaning of it all. If you are like me and tend to read books about the "live ball" era, this book offers a well-told look at the transition between those eras.
I knew a little more about pitcher Carl Mays coming in, but I didn't know he was so despised. That Ty Cobb comes off as level-headed in his dislike of Mays was surprising. And yet Sowell does a great job of explaining how Mays was his own worst enemy and not an altogether bad person taken as a whole. Mays did what Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale did in the 1960s.
The book also takes the time to recall the pennant race that year with Cleveland fighting against the defending A.L. Champion White Sox and the Yankees in their first year with Babe Ruth. Ruth gets a good deal of ink as he was teammates with Mays in New York and Boston. Tris Speaker is also prominent as the Indians player-manager and star Centerfielder. I had never read anything biographical about Speaker before this. I had no idea that he was a Texan. I didn't know he had ever managed in the big leagues.
I think what makes the book easy to read is that is seems more like good reporting than history. The reader gets information and smooth delivery and can draw their own conclusions about the disputes and meaning of it all. If you are like me and tend to read books about the "live ball" era, this book offers a well-told look at the transition between those eras.
January 5, 2016
I’ve always known that in the early part of the last century a pitcher named Carl Mays threw a ball that struck and killed a player named Ray Chapman, the only fatality ever to occur on a major league field during a game. Intriguing as that was, I never thought much more about it other than as a bit of trivia.
Then last fall Summer Game Books brought out a new edition of Mike Sowell’s The Pitch That Killed: Carl Mays, Ray Chapman and the Pennant Race of 1920. Sowell’s writing combines the weight of a historian’s approach with a sportswriter’s flair to create an excellent reading experience that illuminates an era, its players, and an unparalleled baseball tragedy.
Sowell provides in-depth context for the Mays pitch that killed Chapman by giving us not just the life stories of those two men, but also those of their teammates, family members, opponents, and bosses. I was surprised to find that Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, and Joe Sewell are large figures in this story.
Maybe that’s what I liked best about this completely satisfying book: It’s a captivating story with fascinating characters, internal and external conflicts, a century-old setting vividly rendered, and a tragedy more complex than any trivia question.
Then last fall Summer Game Books brought out a new edition of Mike Sowell’s The Pitch That Killed: Carl Mays, Ray Chapman and the Pennant Race of 1920. Sowell’s writing combines the weight of a historian’s approach with a sportswriter’s flair to create an excellent reading experience that illuminates an era, its players, and an unparalleled baseball tragedy.
Sowell provides in-depth context for the Mays pitch that killed Chapman by giving us not just the life stories of those two men, but also those of their teammates, family members, opponents, and bosses. I was surprised to find that Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, and Joe Sewell are large figures in this story.
Maybe that’s what I liked best about this completely satisfying book: It’s a captivating story with fascinating characters, internal and external conflicts, a century-old setting vividly rendered, and a tragedy more complex than any trivia question.
August 10, 2015
Very well-written and detailed account of the death of Ray Chapman, who died when a pitch by Carl Mays hit him in the head. Sowell does a good job of bringing the reader inside of the baseball world in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Some games are recalled almost in box score-like fashion. I'd recommend this to sports fans.
March 23, 2025
It is astounding to consider that, for all the inherent danger involved in trying to hit or catch a well-hit or -pitched baseball, no one in the history of modern baseball has ever died on the field directly from such misfortune. There have been casualties, in the aftermath, though. And the most infamous occurrence took place just over a hundred years ago, during a heated pennant race between two teams who desperately wanted a shot at the World Series. With the course of one pitch, two lives were ruined.
"The Pitch That Killed," by Mike Sowell, really surprised me. I love books about baseball and its history, but I didn't expect this one to bowl me over as much as it did. I had heard the anecdote of how Carl Mays, pitching for the New York Yankees just prior to their ascension to greatness, threw a pitch that hit Ray Chapman and ultimately caused his death hours later, but I had no idea how dramatic the story of the 1920 baseball season was. This all took place against the backdrop of Cleveland's baseball team (formerly the Indians, in our day the Guardians) going for its first pennant, while the Yankees, having just acquired Babe Ruth as well as Mays in a trade with the Red Sox, were starting to become "The Yankees," the most winning franchise in baseball history (and yes, as someone who despises them, it gives me no pleasure to highlight how preeminent they are).
The story of the two men whose fates were joined on that hot August day in 1920 couldn't be more different. Mays, a son of the West, was a great pitcher but a prickly personality, always rubbing teammates and managers the wrong way with his brisk treatment of others. Chapman, a prodigy from the Midwest, made a home in Cleveland and was beloved by the Indians, with whom he hoped to secure a title and then retire. Both men had memorable seasons in 1920, and the contest between the Yankees and the Indians would be decided deep into the season. There was also the unfolding drama that surrounded questions about the legitimacy of the previous year's "best of nine" contest (the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal, which would redefine baseball's relationship with gambling), and the fervor of the race that unfolded.
There is no question that Carl Mays hit Ray Chapman in the head with a baseball, and that this injury ultimately caused Chapman's death hours later. To what extent Mays should be blamed is a matter of conjecture. It's something that many of the players whose voices crop up in this book, via archival testimonies in the form of newspaper interviews from the time, struggle to come to terms with. There was an enormous sense of loss on the Cleveland side, but Mays didn't get off scot-free even if he never faced any charges in a court of law. The unfolding tragedy of both men's lives is presented well, with the remnants of Chapman's once-happy marriage turning to ashes in the wake of his death and questions about Mays' possible collusion with gamblers to affect the outcome of the 1921 World Series keeping him out of the Hall of Fame during his lifetime. Sowell highlights the beaning but doesn't limit himself to that; the story of the 1920 season is about so much more than the incident, without being able to be divorced from it. Truly, the Mays/Chapman incident is an outlier but also a cautionary tale, and one that we would do well to heed a hundred years after the fact, when injuries on the field are so much more prevalent but we know more about the body's threshold for pain.
"The Pitch That Killed" was a thrift-store find either late last year or earlier this year (I can't remember which), and it's one of the most enjoyable books that I've read so far this year. With baseball just around the corner, it seems like a perfect time to read about my once-and-future favorite sport. And this book does not disappoint. Documenting the most tragic occasion on a baseball diamond thus far, it also reminds us of how sports can take our mind away from the pain of everyday life even when that pain comes from an errant fastball.
"The Pitch That Killed," by Mike Sowell, really surprised me. I love books about baseball and its history, but I didn't expect this one to bowl me over as much as it did. I had heard the anecdote of how Carl Mays, pitching for the New York Yankees just prior to their ascension to greatness, threw a pitch that hit Ray Chapman and ultimately caused his death hours later, but I had no idea how dramatic the story of the 1920 baseball season was. This all took place against the backdrop of Cleveland's baseball team (formerly the Indians, in our day the Guardians) going for its first pennant, while the Yankees, having just acquired Babe Ruth as well as Mays in a trade with the Red Sox, were starting to become "The Yankees," the most winning franchise in baseball history (and yes, as someone who despises them, it gives me no pleasure to highlight how preeminent they are).
The story of the two men whose fates were joined on that hot August day in 1920 couldn't be more different. Mays, a son of the West, was a great pitcher but a prickly personality, always rubbing teammates and managers the wrong way with his brisk treatment of others. Chapman, a prodigy from the Midwest, made a home in Cleveland and was beloved by the Indians, with whom he hoped to secure a title and then retire. Both men had memorable seasons in 1920, and the contest between the Yankees and the Indians would be decided deep into the season. There was also the unfolding drama that surrounded questions about the legitimacy of the previous year's "best of nine" contest (the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal, which would redefine baseball's relationship with gambling), and the fervor of the race that unfolded.
There is no question that Carl Mays hit Ray Chapman in the head with a baseball, and that this injury ultimately caused Chapman's death hours later. To what extent Mays should be blamed is a matter of conjecture. It's something that many of the players whose voices crop up in this book, via archival testimonies in the form of newspaper interviews from the time, struggle to come to terms with. There was an enormous sense of loss on the Cleveland side, but Mays didn't get off scot-free even if he never faced any charges in a court of law. The unfolding tragedy of both men's lives is presented well, with the remnants of Chapman's once-happy marriage turning to ashes in the wake of his death and questions about Mays' possible collusion with gamblers to affect the outcome of the 1921 World Series keeping him out of the Hall of Fame during his lifetime. Sowell highlights the beaning but doesn't limit himself to that; the story of the 1920 season is about so much more than the incident, without being able to be divorced from it. Truly, the Mays/Chapman incident is an outlier but also a cautionary tale, and one that we would do well to heed a hundred years after the fact, when injuries on the field are so much more prevalent but we know more about the body's threshold for pain.
"The Pitch That Killed" was a thrift-store find either late last year or earlier this year (I can't remember which), and it's one of the most enjoyable books that I've read so far this year. With baseball just around the corner, it seems like a perfect time to read about my once-and-future favorite sport. And this book does not disappoint. Documenting the most tragic occasion on a baseball diamond thus far, it also reminds us of how sports can take our mind away from the pain of everyday life even when that pain comes from an errant fastball.
March 20, 2019
Whoa! I cannot even imagine being at a game where such a tragedy occurs. I can't imagine how hard a ball must hit you to take your life. I have been hit by a hard pitch. Took a hard fastball in the left side just under the ribs in high school, but that was only a 50-60 mph pitch. It hurt badly. For a week or so. I also got hit by a throw from the catcher when I was stealing second. My head first slide beat the throw but the ball hit me right in the jaw. That hurt really bad too. Hurt for a week. I even saw stars for a minute. In high school, on rainy days, coach would take us into the gym and hit us ground balls on the hard floor. He would rip them at us. Occasionally he would make us toss our gloves off to the side to get used to stopping balls with our chests, you know, in case we took a bad hop on the field. I am pretty certain that I still have a bruise or two from those days. But nothing comes close to helping me imagine how hard that pitch must have hit Chapman in the head to kill him that quickly. How terrible.
This book is a great account of that tragic season. There is lots of backstory and great information about the event. There is a great dive into both lives. I feel bad for the families. I feel bad for the teammates. A part of me is surprised that this event has not happened again.
I love these books from the old days. It makes me wonder what books will be written about the events I have seen. What stories will be told about today's greats? I am worried that our current technology will affect the books written in the future. I hope I am wrong.
This book is a great account of that tragic season. There is lots of backstory and great information about the event. There is a great dive into both lives. I feel bad for the families. I feel bad for the teammates. A part of me is surprised that this event has not happened again.
I love these books from the old days. It makes me wonder what books will be written about the events I have seen. What stories will be told about today's greats? I am worried that our current technology will affect the books written in the future. I hope I am wrong.
August 21, 2020
Modern day baseball: Imagine the shortstop on a first-place team dying from a pitch to the head in a mid-August game against the league rivals. That player's team dedicates the rest of the season to his memory and goes on to win the World Series. It'd be the sports moment of the decade. Multiple ESPYs. International news. Tears and Twitter pandemonium. A Disney movie.
Things were a bit different when this happened to Ray Chapman and the Cleveland Indians during the 1920 MLB season. It was still a huge sports story of the past century, but it has been largely forgotten today.
Chapman died exactly 100 years ago last Monday (August 17, 1920). I wanted to read this book to commemorate his life, but I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Over 300 pages to describe a single pitch among over 35 million thrown in the history of baseball?
But Sowell's account of the incident blew me away. He framed the fatal "beaning" and aftermath within the context of baseball as it was in the early 1900s, bringing to life the cheery and gregarious Chapman, the brooding and unlikeable pitcher Carl Mays, and the championshipless Indians. All of the characters truly came alive and moved about within their 1910s and 20s world. Sowell even managed to make game-by-game results interesting - who hit what on a what-what count, why the game mattered, where it placed each team in the standings, how the players reacted and were quoted in the papers, etc.
This was an epic piece of investigative journalism and at the same time a page-turner, a fantastic feat. Sowell's eyes must still be hurting from the microfiche. He even managed a few in-person interviews in 1985 with players who were still alive from the 1920 championship season, notably Bill Wambsganss, who executed the only unassisted triple play in World Series history, and Joe Sewell, who still holds the record for the lowest strikeout rate in major league history, striking out on average only once every 73 plate appearances, and the most consecutive games without a strikeout, at 115. He struck out only three times over the course of a full 1932 season.
Anyway, Ray: it was nice to meet ya.
"HE LIVES IN THE HEARTS OF ALL WHO KNEW HIM."
October 7, 2018
The book lives up to the press on it. Clear, uncluttered writing; it's the events themselves that are memorable.
The book is about much more than just the one incident and the two men involved. The 1920 American League pennant race was extraordinary, coming right down to the final days. It involved many great baseball figures, including Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb, and Babe Ruth. One of the World Series games included rare events such as a pitcher hitting a home run and an unassisted triple play.
If you like to read baseball stories at all, you need to be sure to read this one.
The book is about much more than just the one incident and the two men involved. The 1920 American League pennant race was extraordinary, coming right down to the final days. It involved many great baseball figures, including Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb, and Babe Ruth. One of the World Series games included rare events such as a pitcher hitting a home run and an unassisted triple play.
If you like to read baseball stories at all, you need to be sure to read this one.
March 17, 2009
A gripping account of one of Basball's watershed seasons, this book unaccountably sat on my shelf for about three years; I only dusted it off after reading HEART OF THE GAME, a book about another Baseball fatality. Like the later book, this book traces the paths taken by the main protagonists, Carl Mays, the man who threw the fatal pitch, and Ray Chapman, the man whose career was cut so drastically short: further, it puts the event into the context of what has to be one of Baseball's most eventful seasons. Before the season, the owners had determined that, in order to promote hitting, which in turn would increase attendance, "trick pitches" would be outlawed from all but 32 pitchers, and that new balls would be frequently put into play as old ones became scuffed and discolored. Also before the season, the biggest name in the Game, Babe Ruth, was sold to the Yankees, where he joined his ex-Bosox teammate, Carl Mays, who had forced a trade from Boston the previous year. Despite the Babe's early season slump (he didn't hit the first of his record-shattering 54 homers until May 1), offense rocketed throughout the Game, leading to allegations of a "rabbit ball". The American League pennant race evolved into a tight, three team struggle amongst the defending champion White Sox, the Ruth-led Yankees, and Tris Speaker's Indians. The first speed bump was Chapman's beaning and subsequent death; the next was the breaking of the Black Sox scandal, with the suspensions of the seven current Sox who had conspired to throw the 1919 Series. Even the Yankees faced adversity down the stretch: Ruth sat out several games with a "chigger bite" on his arm, and Mays, their most effective hurler, skipped several turns in the rotation following Chapman's death.
Sowell does an excellent job recounting this hectic season, and makes clever use of the lexicon of the time to give one the flavor of the events as they are taking place, including this description of Mays on the fatal day: "Before leaving, he had taken a chicken neck out of the icebox and stuck it in his pocket. As was his custom, he would chew it during the game to keep his mouth moist." Ew.
P.S.: this was among the last books I bought at Chelsea Books, and I would like to give props to Brian Bilby. We miss you, and hope all is going well for in Upstate New York.
Sowell does an excellent job recounting this hectic season, and makes clever use of the lexicon of the time to give one the flavor of the events as they are taking place, including this description of Mays on the fatal day: "Before leaving, he had taken a chicken neck out of the icebox and stuck it in his pocket. As was his custom, he would chew it during the game to keep his mouth moist." Ew.
P.S.: this was among the last books I bought at Chelsea Books, and I would like to give props to Brian Bilby. We miss you, and hope all is going well for in Upstate New York.
August 19, 2024
Pretty good book! I'm not really a baseball person, intrinsically, but I do love stats and hearing about all the bizarre things that went on at the Turn of the Century. Like. Carl Mays was going to be arrested for trainhopping, but the cops let him off on the proviso that he play for their local baseball team. The infield of Pelican Park in New Orleans was filled with broken seashells and shards of glass. The Dodgers had, direct quote, "[a] mascot and batboy, a hunchback orphan named Eddie Bennett" that one of the players just found on the streets and started taking from city to city. You could just grab an orphan off the street!
I do love stats, but I think the author overindulges a bit in them. I understand that the pennant race of 1920 was very close, but it was a bit much being barraged by the current standings, how many hits the players had, and so on. Maybe this is my complaining that the horror book was scary, though. This is the stats' house, they're supposed to be there.
There really is something so "first as tragedy, then as farce" about this whole ordeal. It was horrible that Chapman died. Horrible! He was only 29, he had a child on the way, he was planning on retiring after the season he died. But it's so incredible seeing all the parallels that happen before the beaning. Carl Mays would hunt squirrels by throwing rocks at them and killing them. He led the league in HBP's pitched. His only friend on the Yankees was laid low by a beanball. If it wasn't real, the foreshadowing would be heavy-handed.
I think the book does get a little long in the tooth in the Joe Sewell section. Sewell was a good man and an incredible player, but I don't know if I really care about what he was up to between his first few games for the Guardians and the 1920 World Series. This kind of goes hand and hand with me not caring about the minutiae of the stats. The Black Sox scandal was interesting, and it was cool how it totally knocked them out of contention, but it was slog to read about every detail of every game.
Of course, though, I'm a sucker for the way the book ended. I was misty-eyed the whole time, more or less. Time makes us bolder, children get older! I'm getting older too! HELP!!!!!
I do love stats, but I think the author overindulges a bit in them. I understand that the pennant race of 1920 was very close, but it was a bit much being barraged by the current standings, how many hits the players had, and so on. Maybe this is my complaining that the horror book was scary, though. This is the stats' house, they're supposed to be there.
There really is something so "first as tragedy, then as farce" about this whole ordeal. It was horrible that Chapman died. Horrible! He was only 29, he had a child on the way, he was planning on retiring after the season he died. But it's so incredible seeing all the parallels that happen before the beaning. Carl Mays would hunt squirrels by throwing rocks at them and killing them. He led the league in HBP's pitched. His only friend on the Yankees was laid low by a beanball. If it wasn't real, the foreshadowing would be heavy-handed.
I think the book does get a little long in the tooth in the Joe Sewell section. Sewell was a good man and an incredible player, but I don't know if I really care about what he was up to between his first few games for the Guardians and the 1920 World Series. This kind of goes hand and hand with me not caring about the minutiae of the stats. The Black Sox scandal was interesting, and it was cool how it totally knocked them out of contention, but it was slog to read about every detail of every game.
Of course, though, I'm a sucker for the way the book ended. I was misty-eyed the whole time, more or less. Time makes us bolder, children get older! I'm getting older too! HELP!!!!!
May 4, 2011
The setup could not have been any more dramatic and poignant if it had been scripted: Ray Chapman was an excellent shortstop and very personable player (even Ty Cobb liked him!) and was in what was rumored to be the last year of his major league career: he has just married Kathleen Daly, daughter of a prominent Cleveland businessman, and it looked as if he would retire at the end of the season to devote himself to his new family and the family business. He had at various times led the Indians in runs, walks, sacrifices, assists and stolen bases. He batted .300+ in three seasons, and was hitting .303 with 97 runs when the central incident in this book takes place.
Carl Mays was a top pitcher for the Yankees - he finished the 1920 season with a record of 26-11. He was a sidearm/submarine pitcher, and he threw spitballs, which at the time were still legal. He was very talented, but he was personally abrasive and had few friends.
On August 16, 1920 Carl Mays fatally beaned Ray Chapman in what is still the only deadly at-bat incident in major league baseball. It was not intentional as far as can be determined, but happened at twilight in an era when major league parks had no lighting. Mays threw, Chapman didn't move; perhaps he didn't see the ball. The sound was so much like that of a ball hitting a bat that it wasn't immediately obvious that Chapman had been hit. But then Chapman fell; he was conscious as he was led off the field but could not speak coherently, and several hours later he died as a result of the trauma.
This book is is meticulously researched and well-written, centered around the fatal beaning but also providing fascinating looks at the careers and personalities of both players, and at what has been called one of the greatest pennant races of modern times. Cleveland's manager was deeply depressed after Chapman's death, but he and the team recovered to lead the Indians to win the 1920 World Series.
Recommended very highly for those interested in baseball history, and for readers who appreciate how real life can so often exceed fiction in sheer drama and irony.
Carl Mays was a top pitcher for the Yankees - he finished the 1920 season with a record of 26-11. He was a sidearm/submarine pitcher, and he threw spitballs, which at the time were still legal. He was very talented, but he was personally abrasive and had few friends.
On August 16, 1920 Carl Mays fatally beaned Ray Chapman in what is still the only deadly at-bat incident in major league baseball. It was not intentional as far as can be determined, but happened at twilight in an era when major league parks had no lighting. Mays threw, Chapman didn't move; perhaps he didn't see the ball. The sound was so much like that of a ball hitting a bat that it wasn't immediately obvious that Chapman had been hit. But then Chapman fell; he was conscious as he was led off the field but could not speak coherently, and several hours later he died as a result of the trauma.
This book is is meticulously researched and well-written, centered around the fatal beaning but also providing fascinating looks at the careers and personalities of both players, and at what has been called one of the greatest pennant races of modern times. Cleveland's manager was deeply depressed after Chapman's death, but he and the team recovered to lead the Indians to win the 1920 World Series.
Recommended very highly for those interested in baseball history, and for readers who appreciate how real life can so often exceed fiction in sheer drama and irony.
February 10, 2025
Just an excellent account of the circumstances surrounding the death of Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman, the only major league baseball player in history to be killed by a pitch during a game. Mike Sowell is an outstanding writer, and his minute-by-minute account of the fateful game in New York is particularly well done.
Sowell’s portraits of Chapman and of Carl Mays, the glowering submarine-style Yankees pitcher who threw the pitch that killed, are thoughtful and complex. Plus Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker, and Ty Cobb appear throughout.
The 1920 American League pennant race was one of the most exciting and unusual in history, going right down to the wire and featuring three teams with some of the most unusual back stories of all time:
The Yankees’ new right fielder Ruth hit 54 home runs that season, which doubled the existing home run record at the time. It was the beginning of Ruth’s ascent as an American icon.
The White Sox had lost the World Series the year before, a Series that would go down in infamy as the “Black Sox” scandal, in which several Sox players were banned for life for “throwing” the Series to the opposing Reds. But those facts had not yet come to light, and so the Sox had their full squad once again — one that was still in the clutches of gamblers.
And the Indians’ star shortstop Ray Chapman was beaned in the temple by an errant Carl Mays pitch in August, and died about 12 hours later. His grief-stricken teammates pulled together to win the AL pennant and eventually the Series over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
An interesting story of a bygone era, and the baseball sequences themselves are the best part.
Sowell’s portraits of Chapman and of Carl Mays, the glowering submarine-style Yankees pitcher who threw the pitch that killed, are thoughtful and complex. Plus Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker, and Ty Cobb appear throughout.
The 1920 American League pennant race was one of the most exciting and unusual in history, going right down to the wire and featuring three teams with some of the most unusual back stories of all time:
The Yankees’ new right fielder Ruth hit 54 home runs that season, which doubled the existing home run record at the time. It was the beginning of Ruth’s ascent as an American icon.
The White Sox had lost the World Series the year before, a Series that would go down in infamy as the “Black Sox” scandal, in which several Sox players were banned for life for “throwing” the Series to the opposing Reds. But those facts had not yet come to light, and so the Sox had their full squad once again — one that was still in the clutches of gamblers.
And the Indians’ star shortstop Ray Chapman was beaned in the temple by an errant Carl Mays pitch in August, and died about 12 hours later. His grief-stricken teammates pulled together to win the AL pennant and eventually the Series over the Brooklyn Dodgers.
An interesting story of a bygone era, and the baseball sequences themselves are the best part.
June 4, 2017
In 1920, major league baseball player Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch made by Carl Mays. This book tells the backstory of the players involved in this tragic event as well as that of the year’s pennant race. Notable names, such as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, make an appearance to give the story context. I had mixed feeling about this book.
On the plus side:
• I learned the details about this tragedy, which ultimately led to mandatory use of batting helmets many years later
• It was interesting comparing modern day baseball to 1920’s baseball, where a player might get a “ground rule” double because his ball hit a policeman’s horse or a game getting called due to darkness or parents handing small children onto the field to shake Babe Ruth’s hand after a home run or fans being charged with petty larceny for keeping balls hit into the stands
On the minus side:
• Too much detail for my taste, including blow by blow accounts of many individual games
• Numerous formatting issues, such as spelling errors, inconsistent use of quotation marks, and misplaced hyphens in the e-book
• It lacked a personal connection to the players; instead, it was a straight-forward narrative telling what happened first, second, third, etc. I guess I just didn’t care for the style of the author, which is an individual taste.
Recommended to those who enjoy detailed stories of the history of baseball.
On the plus side:
• I learned the details about this tragedy, which ultimately led to mandatory use of batting helmets many years later
• It was interesting comparing modern day baseball to 1920’s baseball, where a player might get a “ground rule” double because his ball hit a policeman’s horse or a game getting called due to darkness or parents handing small children onto the field to shake Babe Ruth’s hand after a home run or fans being charged with petty larceny for keeping balls hit into the stands
On the minus side:
• Too much detail for my taste, including blow by blow accounts of many individual games
• Numerous formatting issues, such as spelling errors, inconsistent use of quotation marks, and misplaced hyphens in the e-book
• It lacked a personal connection to the players; instead, it was a straight-forward narrative telling what happened first, second, third, etc. I guess I just didn’t care for the style of the author, which is an individual taste.
Recommended to those who enjoy detailed stories of the history of baseball.
January 30, 2013
An engrossing and fascinating story of the tragically sad end to the life of one of baseball's most popular players Ray Chappie Chapman.The book chronicles the 1920 pennant race in the American League and brings to life the personalities of greats like Tris Speaker and his Cleveland team that beat the Babe and his Yankee team despite the death of their shortstop in August.
It is a little known story that grabs your heart because you know that no matter how much you hope for a change in the historical record, Carl Mays the man that everybody found easy to despise was still going to throw a pitch that killed the beloved Chappie.
It is fascinating to read about the personal loss to his teammates and the emotional havoc that it created for them in human terms. Yet we get to feel that Chappie was still celebrating when the pennant is clnched in the form of rookie replacement Joe Sewell who takes it upon himself to embody the spirit of the fallen leader.
This is a book that captures baseball in the early 20th century and makes the game and personalities of the players inriguing
It is a little known story that grabs your heart because you know that no matter how much you hope for a change in the historical record, Carl Mays the man that everybody found easy to despise was still going to throw a pitch that killed the beloved Chappie.
It is fascinating to read about the personal loss to his teammates and the emotional havoc that it created for them in human terms. Yet we get to feel that Chappie was still celebrating when the pennant is clnched in the form of rookie replacement Joe Sewell who takes it upon himself to embody the spirit of the fallen leader.
This is a book that captures baseball in the early 20th century and makes the game and personalities of the players inriguing
June 3, 2012
This book is extremely well-researched, well-written, informative, and also very depressing. I am glad to have read it, but will be gladder when more time has passed so that I don't feel this close to the events that happened. Hard to say "I really liked it" or "it was amazing," but I don't believe this sad story could possibly have been told any better. Will go ahead and give it the 5 stars on that basis.
May 25, 2016
One of the best books on baseball I have ever read, (and thats saying a lot) It is a story of Ray Chapman (the only player to die during a major league baseball game) and the man who threw the fatal pitch Carl Mays. It is as the cover promo stated the best baseball book no one has ever read. Dont make that mistake, find a copy and read it.
February 17, 2025
This was the second time through reading this gem of book. Sowell really researched this book well, and the writing/prose is so well done also. I discovered new things my second time through and for baseball history buffs this book is most definitely a must read.
May 3, 2014
I think my abandonment of this book says more about me than about the book or it's author. This is clearly a meticulously researched book, told in a lively, sports columnist's fashion. I found that I just didn't care enough about the 1920 pennant race to re-live it, game by game.
February 10, 2020
Baseball writing is hard. It's difficult for an author to determine where his or her focus should be. If one writes about a particular season, should one pay attention only to the pennant race? How much time should be spent introducing the myriad of personalities and histories that make up the fabric of the game?
A good author will focus primarily on the key story and use various anecdotes and biographical elements as seasoning, the way one would season an elaborate dinner. Unfortunately, Sowell spends so much time and pays so much attention to the seasonings and spices that the main course is all but missing.
There's a great story in here somewhere. Carl Mays and Ray Chapman are as opposite as characters can be. The stern, moody Mays is the perfect foil to the cheery, optimistic Chapman - and it seems so fitting that the darker figure killed the lighter figure, like Cain killing Abel. Chapman, a star in his time (but surely not the superstar Sowell tries to turn him into), is all but forgotten today, while Mays' infamy as the man who threw That Pitch has far outlived the man himself. The contrast between these two figures alone ought to be enough to make for 309 gripping pages.
That's not what we get here. This story is about Chapman and Mays, yes, but equal time is given to Ruth, to Tris Speaker, to Chapman's eventual replacement Joe Sewell, to Ban Johnson, and even to Indians owner Jim Dunn. We see a bit of Chapman's wife and his happy home life - but then that all disappears as soon as he passes away, brushed aside in favor of more long-forgotten rumors of player strikes and falsified Babe Ruth fatal car accidents. We see the games of that unforgettable pennant race - but we don't feel any drama. How can we let the game progress at a more natural pace when there are so many details to talk about?
This book does succeed where Asinof's more famous Eight Men Out fails. Sowell is kind enough to actually provide sources for his research - and, boy, the research he did! One could never replicate his feat, as the players he was able to interview in the mid-1980s have long since departed this earth. There are no footnotes or endnotes, naturally - but one hardly misses them. It's quite apparent from the prose which newspapers or magazines Sowell gets his information from, and the book is, by all accounts, quite accurate.
But it also fails where Eight Men Out succeeds. Eight Men Out was very much a book about human nature, about the dark side of men - one in which the baseball element seemed to come along by accident. That one was a human drama with some baseball (and fictitious dramatic embellishment) thrown in for good measure. In contrast, The Pitch that Killed is chiefly a baseball book with a bit of human drama thrown in - and lots and lots of details.
Someday somebody will write a book that focuses on the two men involved here - Chapman and Mays. There are more than enough books about the 1920 American League season in general. Someday a story writer will realize that there is a great story just waiting to be told. Until that day comes, we can only read this and wonder what might have been.
A good author will focus primarily on the key story and use various anecdotes and biographical elements as seasoning, the way one would season an elaborate dinner. Unfortunately, Sowell spends so much time and pays so much attention to the seasonings and spices that the main course is all but missing.
There's a great story in here somewhere. Carl Mays and Ray Chapman are as opposite as characters can be. The stern, moody Mays is the perfect foil to the cheery, optimistic Chapman - and it seems so fitting that the darker figure killed the lighter figure, like Cain killing Abel. Chapman, a star in his time (but surely not the superstar Sowell tries to turn him into), is all but forgotten today, while Mays' infamy as the man who threw That Pitch has far outlived the man himself. The contrast between these two figures alone ought to be enough to make for 309 gripping pages.
That's not what we get here. This story is about Chapman and Mays, yes, but equal time is given to Ruth, to Tris Speaker, to Chapman's eventual replacement Joe Sewell, to Ban Johnson, and even to Indians owner Jim Dunn. We see a bit of Chapman's wife and his happy home life - but then that all disappears as soon as he passes away, brushed aside in favor of more long-forgotten rumors of player strikes and falsified Babe Ruth fatal car accidents. We see the games of that unforgettable pennant race - but we don't feel any drama. How can we let the game progress at a more natural pace when there are so many details to talk about?
This book does succeed where Asinof's more famous Eight Men Out fails. Sowell is kind enough to actually provide sources for his research - and, boy, the research he did! One could never replicate his feat, as the players he was able to interview in the mid-1980s have long since departed this earth. There are no footnotes or endnotes, naturally - but one hardly misses them. It's quite apparent from the prose which newspapers or magazines Sowell gets his information from, and the book is, by all accounts, quite accurate.
But it also fails where Eight Men Out succeeds. Eight Men Out was very much a book about human nature, about the dark side of men - one in which the baseball element seemed to come along by accident. That one was a human drama with some baseball (and fictitious dramatic embellishment) thrown in for good measure. In contrast, The Pitch that Killed is chiefly a baseball book with a bit of human drama thrown in - and lots and lots of details.
Someday somebody will write a book that focuses on the two men involved here - Chapman and Mays. There are more than enough books about the 1920 American League season in general. Someday a story writer will realize that there is a great story just waiting to be told. Until that day comes, we can only read this and wonder what might have been.
July 28, 2019
A blurb on the back of the reprint of "The Pitch That Killed" calls Mike Sowell's book "The best baseball book no one has read." It's a sad statement because this is one of the better baseball history books out there.
Baseball fans all know about Carl Mays' fatal pitch in 1920 that felled Ray Chapman, but the context of the pitch, the season, the players and the reactions are basically unknown. Sowell does a fantastic job of researching it all and presenting it in a lively manner.
In "The Pitch," Sowell gives the history of both Mays and Chapman and notes small ironies leading to the Aug. 16, 1920, pitch. Mays told his wife he had to do "something" different to get his name in the papers. Chapman, who married the daughter of a Cleveland oil tycoon, contemplated retiring at the end of that season and going into business.
The pitch took on more meaning as Sowell described the season and tight pennant race between Cleveland, Chicago and the Yankees. The Indians feared that the loss of Chapman would result in the loss of the pennant. Chapman, a deft fielder and good batter, was also loved by the town; more than 1,000 came to his funeral. The Indians brought up Joe Sewell, a former University of Alabama football player who played shortstop for the minor league New Orleans Pelicans. He feared he would not be good enough to play the position. Instead, he began a Hall of Fame career and set the record for the lowest strikeout rate, striking out only once every 62.5 at bats.
Sewell briefly notes the allegations that the Chicago White Sox "threw" the 1919 World Series against Cincinnati. And he includes thoughts that Mays, who left the Yankees and later pitched for the Giants, may have conspired to let opponents win games when he pitched in the Series in 1921.
This is truly a great, well-researched book that all baseball fans should read. So much of that era has been featured in Eight Men Out and the awkward Al Stump bio of Ty Cobb. This is a much better representation of baseball in that era and an amazing account of the only fatality on the field.
More people need to read this so when it's reprinted, the publisher can take off that claim of the "best baseball book no one has read."
Baseball fans all know about Carl Mays' fatal pitch in 1920 that felled Ray Chapman, but the context of the pitch, the season, the players and the reactions are basically unknown. Sowell does a fantastic job of researching it all and presenting it in a lively manner.
In "The Pitch," Sowell gives the history of both Mays and Chapman and notes small ironies leading to the Aug. 16, 1920, pitch. Mays told his wife he had to do "something" different to get his name in the papers. Chapman, who married the daughter of a Cleveland oil tycoon, contemplated retiring at the end of that season and going into business.
The pitch took on more meaning as Sowell described the season and tight pennant race between Cleveland, Chicago and the Yankees. The Indians feared that the loss of Chapman would result in the loss of the pennant. Chapman, a deft fielder and good batter, was also loved by the town; more than 1,000 came to his funeral. The Indians brought up Joe Sewell, a former University of Alabama football player who played shortstop for the minor league New Orleans Pelicans. He feared he would not be good enough to play the position. Instead, he began a Hall of Fame career and set the record for the lowest strikeout rate, striking out only once every 62.5 at bats.
Sewell briefly notes the allegations that the Chicago White Sox "threw" the 1919 World Series against Cincinnati. And he includes thoughts that Mays, who left the Yankees and later pitched for the Giants, may have conspired to let opponents win games when he pitched in the Series in 1921.
This is truly a great, well-researched book that all baseball fans should read. So much of that era has been featured in Eight Men Out and the awkward Al Stump bio of Ty Cobb. This is a much better representation of baseball in that era and an amazing account of the only fatality on the field.
More people need to read this so when it's reprinted, the publisher can take off that claim of the "best baseball book no one has read."
July 7, 2025
A fantastic book for any baseball fan, especially a fan of baseball history.
Only one person has ever died from the result of an incident on a major league baseball field and that man was Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indian during the 1920 baseball season. This book tells the story of Ray Chapman and the pitched that killed, but also tells so much more, including the pitcher, Carl Mays.
Carl Mays and Babe Ruth were cornerstones of the pitching staff for the Boston Red Sox 1916 and 1918 championship teams. Mays, unliked by nearly everyone in baseball due to his overall manner as well as continually leading the league in hit batsmen, was traded to the Yankees during the 1919 season and Ruth joined the Yankees through the infamous trade after the 1919 season.
Then came the 2020 season and the tight pennate race all season long between the Cleveland Indians, defending champions Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees. Mays started the season struggling for the Yankees, Ruth demolished his own home run record of 29 by hitting 54, Chapman, in the prime of his career, decided 1920 was his last season, and the infamous Black Sox Scandal broke leading to the suspension of 8 players of the 1919 Chicago White Sox.
In this book, evidence is given that the 1921 and 1922 New York Yankees also threw games in the World Series which involved Carl Mays. I had never heard this speculation before, and though we will never know for sure, the evidence if strong enough to create doubt.
Again, this book is wonderful covering players, owners, and managers during the early days of baseball and covers every aspect of the 1920 season. Mays and Chapman, along with the Yankees and Indians, are the main focus, but baseball as a whole is covered.
Only one person has ever died from the result of an incident on a major league baseball field and that man was Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indian during the 1920 baseball season. This book tells the story of Ray Chapman and the pitched that killed, but also tells so much more, including the pitcher, Carl Mays.
Carl Mays and Babe Ruth were cornerstones of the pitching staff for the Boston Red Sox 1916 and 1918 championship teams. Mays, unliked by nearly everyone in baseball due to his overall manner as well as continually leading the league in hit batsmen, was traded to the Yankees during the 1919 season and Ruth joined the Yankees through the infamous trade after the 1919 season.
Then came the 2020 season and the tight pennate race all season long between the Cleveland Indians, defending champions Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees. Mays started the season struggling for the Yankees, Ruth demolished his own home run record of 29 by hitting 54, Chapman, in the prime of his career, decided 1920 was his last season, and the infamous Black Sox Scandal broke leading to the suspension of 8 players of the 1919 Chicago White Sox.
In this book, evidence is given that the 1921 and 1922 New York Yankees also threw games in the World Series which involved Carl Mays. I had never heard this speculation before, and though we will never know for sure, the evidence if strong enough to create doubt.
Again, this book is wonderful covering players, owners, and managers during the early days of baseball and covers every aspect of the 1920 season. Mays and Chapman, along with the Yankees and Indians, are the main focus, but baseball as a whole is covered.
June 2, 2022
Baseball is a game where it seems like there are statistics for everything you could imagine. When I was younger, I received a Baseball Encyclopedia for Christmas one year that allowed me to pore through statistics and see many of the differences between the “old days” of baseball and the modern game. Never mind that I was as separated from those days by the same number of years that separates the youth of today from my childhood baseball games. One of the fascinating statistics that stood out was the fact that there has only ever been one player killed while playing the game.
The Pitch That Killed tells the story of that day, as well as the circumstances leading up to it as well as the effects afterward. Mike Sowell has written many books about baseball, including One Pitch Away about the 1986 baseball season. He’s done a tremendous amount of research to present readers with many details about the incident, other than the brief mention it received in Ken Burns’ series Baseball.
Ray Chapman was the well-liked shortstop for the Cleveland Indians who died on that summer afternoon in August of 1920. Newly married to the mayor’s daughter, he was considering ending his career in baseball after this season. He didn’t like the travel and being away from his family. Carl Mays, on the other hand, was well-known as a “dirty pitcher.” Up until recently doctoring the baseball had been allowed, but rules came down against it for all but a select few who were grandfathered in. Mays also had a reputation for throwing inside and hitting batters on a regular basis.
To read my full review, please go to: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
The Pitch That Killed tells the story of that day, as well as the circumstances leading up to it as well as the effects afterward. Mike Sowell has written many books about baseball, including One Pitch Away about the 1986 baseball season. He’s done a tremendous amount of research to present readers with many details about the incident, other than the brief mention it received in Ken Burns’ series Baseball.
Ray Chapman was the well-liked shortstop for the Cleveland Indians who died on that summer afternoon in August of 1920. Newly married to the mayor’s daughter, he was considering ending his career in baseball after this season. He didn’t like the travel and being away from his family. Carl Mays, on the other hand, was well-known as a “dirty pitcher.” Up until recently doctoring the baseball had been allowed, but rules came down against it for all but a select few who were grandfathered in. Mays also had a reputation for throwing inside and hitting batters on a regular basis.
To read my full review, please go to: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...
November 21, 2019
“The Pitch that Killed” by Mike Sowell tells the true story that so many baseball fans don’t know but which most have heard of in its supposed impact in ushering in the era of Babe Ruth and the Live Ball Era. Though the tale is regulated to a co-main topic - with the 1920 American League pennant race given almost equal billing - it was fascinating to learn about the persons involved in the only fatal beaning that ever transpired on a major league baseball field and how the game of baseball was before and after the incident.
My longtime perception (mainly due to Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary) of the accident was that the actual baseball used in the Dead Ball Era - dark, disfigured, and difficult to distinguish when thrown at great speed from a short distance - was almost solely to blame. I came away with a completely different view on this entire matter, as will you. I only wish that the author had explored the subject of beanings throughout the history of baseball, as it seems that they have been commonplace since the game’s inception and even into the modern day. Instead of continuing to echo Ken Burns and others narrative that a fatal beaning was inevitable, let us consider this. May it all come down to the simple answer that a lack of head protection brought about so many preventable injuries over the course of baseball history, rather than head hunting pitchers throwing an imperfect ball?
My longtime perception (mainly due to Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary) of the accident was that the actual baseball used in the Dead Ball Era - dark, disfigured, and difficult to distinguish when thrown at great speed from a short distance - was almost solely to blame. I came away with a completely different view on this entire matter, as will you. I only wish that the author had explored the subject of beanings throughout the history of baseball, as it seems that they have been commonplace since the game’s inception and even into the modern day. Instead of continuing to echo Ken Burns and others narrative that a fatal beaning was inevitable, let us consider this. May it all come down to the simple answer that a lack of head protection brought about so many preventable injuries over the course of baseball history, rather than head hunting pitchers throwing an imperfect ball?
May 16, 2019
I'm a sucker for a good baseball book and this was a very satisfying entry. The story chronicles the 1920 season and the American League pennant race honing in on the fatal beaming of Ray Chapman. It is complete with a hero and a villain but unfortunately it is the hero who does near the end. There were no happy endings, just a touch of irony. The Cleveland Indians went on t win the pennant and eventually the World Series but the joy in Mudville was only temporary.
The cast of characters include a couple of Hall of Famers, Tris Speaker, Babe Ruth and Joe Sewell but the storyline is much more about the lesser players. The names that only the baseball aficionados would recognize. This doesn't mean that they are any less interesting just not household names. Carl Mayes is not a true villian but more of a distant loner who doesn't care much for what others think of him and therefore alienates all he comes in contact with. He is contrasted by Ray Chapman who is universally beloved and respected. Everything Chapman touched turned to gold. His life was sent from one success to another with almost no setbacks. One of the many tragedies is that he is reduced to a mere foot note.
The cast of characters include a couple of Hall of Famers, Tris Speaker, Babe Ruth and Joe Sewell but the storyline is much more about the lesser players. The names that only the baseball aficionados would recognize. This doesn't mean that they are any less interesting just not household names. Carl Mayes is not a true villian but more of a distant loner who doesn't care much for what others think of him and therefore alienates all he comes in contact with. He is contrasted by Ray Chapman who is universally beloved and respected. Everything Chapman touched turned to gold. His life was sent from one success to another with almost no setbacks. One of the many tragedies is that he is reduced to a mere foot note.
July 15, 2021
4.5 stars
This is one of my favorite baseball books I've read. As a fan of the Cleveland Indians, I really didn't know much about the early years of the team. In fact, the only player I had heard of on that 1920 championship team was Tris Speaker and even then, my knowledge was limited. I started the book only knowing the trivia fact that Ray Chapman was the only player ever killed in a game, but I didn’t expect such a thorough history of each of the players involved. It’s a tragic story for a player that was so beloved and had he lived and continued playing, he might have become a Hall of Famer. In fact, Carl Mays might have become one as well. The book covered the Indians championship run in detail as well that season and it was nice to read about a Cleveland baseball team that actually finished their championship run on a high note rather than choking in the playoffs like I've been accustomed to seeing in my lifetime.
My only quibble with this book is that the author went into too much detail at times when talking about specific games. Overall, this was a great summertime baseball read and one of my favorite books I've read this year.
This is one of my favorite baseball books I've read. As a fan of the Cleveland Indians, I really didn't know much about the early years of the team. In fact, the only player I had heard of on that 1920 championship team was Tris Speaker and even then, my knowledge was limited. I started the book only knowing the trivia fact that Ray Chapman was the only player ever killed in a game, but I didn’t expect such a thorough history of each of the players involved. It’s a tragic story for a player that was so beloved and had he lived and continued playing, he might have become a Hall of Famer. In fact, Carl Mays might have become one as well. The book covered the Indians championship run in detail as well that season and it was nice to read about a Cleveland baseball team that actually finished their championship run on a high note rather than choking in the playoffs like I've been accustomed to seeing in my lifetime.
My only quibble with this book is that the author went into too much detail at times when talking about specific games. Overall, this was a great summertime baseball read and one of my favorite books I've read this year.
May 31, 2022
The Pitch That Killed is a fascinating book. Mike Sowell tells the story of the only player ever killed while playing professional baseball. Ray Chapman was loved by his teammates and the fans in Cleveland in the 1910s and was one of the best shortstops of his era. His career forever becomes entwined with that of New York pitcher Carl Mays on August 16, 1920. Mays, one of the best pitchers of the 1910s and 1920s, never got along with his teammates, first in Boston and later in New York. Sowell's description of their careers shows why Chapman was mourned by players while Mays was despised before and after May's pitch collided with Chapman's head. Both of these players might have made the Hall of Fame if not for that fateful day. What happened before and after May's pitch killed Chapman makes for an interesting story. Besides Mays and Chapman, other players come to life in Sowell's book, including future Hall-of-Famers Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker, and Joe Sewell and the author describes how their careers were affected by Chapman's death. Anyone who enjoys reading history, especially baseball history will find it hard to put this book down.
January 6, 2019
A very thorough book about the 1920 season and one fatal incident, along with its impact on several lives. The level of baseball detail may be too high for the casual reader. Unlike many baseball books, the umpires perspective is also utilized.
A key highlight of the book (and the season) is the marvelous play of rookie Joe Sewell in eventually replacing Chappie at shortstop. This was a time of gambling, rough play, and the rise of Babe Ruth, and each of these is well represented in the story. An extensive bibliography lists the many books and articles used to research this book.
I read the Lyons Press paperback reissue of this book, and the quality of that was subpar. Errors in the text and a newspaper style typeface were annoying, and the binding was coming unglued. This book looks far more worn than it should be for it's mere year in the library with likely low circulation. Overall rating - 4 stars, but seek out an earlier edition.
A key highlight of the book (and the season) is the marvelous play of rookie Joe Sewell in eventually replacing Chappie at shortstop. This was a time of gambling, rough play, and the rise of Babe Ruth, and each of these is well represented in the story. An extensive bibliography lists the many books and articles used to research this book.
I read the Lyons Press paperback reissue of this book, and the quality of that was subpar. Errors in the text and a newspaper style typeface were annoying, and the binding was coming unglued. This book looks far more worn than it should be for it's mere year in the library with likely low circulation. Overall rating - 4 stars, but seek out an earlier edition.
March 19, 2019
I read the recent re-print of the book, but whichever version, Sowell's dedication to contextualizing one very famous/infamous event in baseball history is impressive. By giving us a complete picture of pitcher Carl Mays, batter Ray Chapman, and the era that they played in-- even the specific season-- Sowell succeeds in making Chapman's tragic death all the more relevant and poignant. I also hadn't realized that Chapman was ultimately replaced by a green rookie who became Hall of Famer Joe Sewell. Would Sewell have gotten his shot had Chapman not been killed by a pitch? We'll never know. Great book that any baseball fan would enjoy.
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