When one thinks of baseball, rarely do thoughts of tragedy come to mind. It is a game associated with warm, sunny days and leisurely outings to the local ballpark. Yet injury and death have been associated with the game from its beginnings. Even the most casual fan has heard about baseball’s most renowned fatality, the beaning death of Cleveland Indians player Ray Chapman. On the afternoon of August 20, 1920, the Yankees notorious headhunter, Carl Mays, threw a pitch that struck Chapman on the left temple. A surgical attempt to save Chapman’s life proved futile and Cleveland’s 29-year-old shortstop died early the next morning. It is the.
