The deadly pitch that changed baseball

This is slow-motion footage of a submarine pitcher named Carl Mays in 1920. That year, in August, he killed a man with a deadly fastball. Let's talk about the pitch that changed baseball. Here you see Carl Mays. He pitched for the New York Yankees between 1919 and 1923 and was known for throwing inside and intimidating batters. He was a tough competitor and widely disliked in the American League. Even his own teammates found the man difficult. Here is Ray Chapman, an excellent shortstop and skilled player for the Cleveland Indians. He stole 52 bases in 1917 and led the American League in walks in 1918. Apart from his physical talents, he was known for storytelling and good humor. Unlike the disagreeable Mays, Chapman was well-liked by teammates, a fan favorite, and one of the most popular players in franchise history. On August 16th, 1920, the Indians were in New York playing the Yankees at the polo grounds. It was a rainy, overcast day, which made the ball more difficult to see because it was dirty and deliberately dirtied up by pitchers. With Carl Mays on the mound in the fifth inning, Ray Chapman came to bat and Mays threw a pitch that smashed into Chapman's skull and produced a loud crack that reverberated across the stadium. Eyewitnesses said Chapman never moved, presumably because he could not see the pitch on that cloudy late-afternoon day with dim light. Chapman collapsed in the batter's box and blood poured out of his left ear. Rush to a hospital surgeons could not save his life. The event quickly developed into a media firestorm. Some ballplayers thought Mays had hit Chapman on purpose. Mays, for his part, insisted what had happened was accidental. Several teams in the American League proposed a boycott of Mays. That is, they said they wouldn't take the field if Mays entered the game. Players called for Mays' banishment from baseball and Chapman's teammates wore black armbands for the rest of the season. The only fatality in Major League Baseball history did not mean helmets came into use right away. They were not required until the 1970s, but the potential for another skull fracture and player death was cited as the primary justification for requiring protective headgear later on. What did happen is this. Umpires received orders to replace any dirty baseball with a bright new one. No more misshapen baseballs covered in tobacco juice. Only clean and livelier baseballs were to enter play. Not only that, in 1920, a new rule stipulated that pitchers could not spit on or apply foreign substances to the ball. Very suddenly, the playing context had changed. Here's Babe Ruth. In 1921, Ruth hit 59 home runs for the New York Yankees and fascinated everyone with his stunning power. Across the league, home runs per game per team more than doubled, as the pitched ball was now livelier and easier to see. Carl May's pitch and Ray Chapman's death marked the end of one era and the beginning of another. If you like what you saw, you can watch more shorts and lectures on this channel, and thanks for watching.