Sam Chapman
Encyclopedia
Samuel Blake Chapman was an American
two-sport athletic star who played as a center fielder
in Major League Baseball
, spending nearly his entire career with the Philadelphia Athletics
(1938–1941, 1945–1951). He batted and threw right-handed, leading the American League
in putout
s four times. He was previously an All-America
n college football
player at the University of California
.
, Chapman graduated from Tamalpais High School
in Mill Valley, California
in 1934, with letters
in football
, baseball, basketball
and track
; his football coach was former Cal star Roy Riegels
.
, being named an All-American for the 1937 Pacific Coast Conference
and national champion "Thunder Team", which went on to win the 1938 Rose Bowl
; the last time California has won the game. Nicknamed the "Tiburon Terror", Chapman was also an All-American baseball player in college.
in the third round of the 1938 NFL Draft
by the Washington Redskins
of the National Football League
, he made his debut with the Athletics on May 16, , shortly after graduation. He played the rest of the year in left field
, moving to center field the following year. As a rookie he batted
.259 with 17 home run
s (second on the team to Bob Johnson) and 63 runs batted in
. His batting average and RBI total increased steadily in each of the next three campaigns, to .269/64 (1939) and .276/75 (1940) before peaking with a .322 average and 106 RBI in . In the latter year he had his best season, finishing fifth in the AL in both slugging average (.543) and total bases
(300), with a career-best 25 home runs. On May 5, , Chapman hit for the cycle
against the St. Louis Browns
.
He joined the Navy
for World War II
after the 1941 season, and served as a pilot and flight instructor in Corpus Christi, Texas
. He returned to the Athletics in late 1945, and was named to the AL All-Star
team in . But he never quite returned to his pre-war level of play; apart from 1949, when he batted .278 with 24 HRs (tied for third in the AL) and 108 RBI (fifth in the AL), he never exceeded a .261 average. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians
in May , and ended the year with a .215 batting mark; he left the major leagues at the end of that season, but played three more years for the Oakland Oaks
of the Pacific Coast League
. In an 11-season major league career, Chapman posted a .266 batting average with 180 home runs, 773 RBI, 754 runs
, 1329 hits
and 41 stolen base
s in 1368 games.
. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1984, and to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
in 1987. In 1999 he was named to the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame
. In 2006, the Tiburon Town Council voted to commission a statue of Chapman to be installed at the Tiburon ferry landing.
Chapman died at an assisted-living residence in Kentfield, California
at the age of 90, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease
for several years.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
two-sport athletic star who played as a center fielder
Center fielder
A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball fielding position between left field and right field...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, spending nearly his entire career with the Philadelphia Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
(1938–1941, 1945–1951). He batted and threw right-handed, leading the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
in putout
Putout
In baseball statistics, a putout is given to a defensive player who records an out by one of the following methods:* Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base...
s four times. He was previously an All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
player at the University of California
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
Early life
Born in Tiburon, CaliforniaTiburon, California
Tiburon is an incorporated town in Marin County, California. It occupies most of the Tiburon Peninsula, which reaches south into the San Francisco Bay. The smaller city of Belvedere occupies the south-east part of the peninsula and is contiguous with Tiburon...
, Chapman graduated from Tamalpais High School
Tamalpais High School
Tamalpais High School is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises more than above Mill Valley....
in Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley, California
Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. The population was 13,903 at the 2010 census.Mill Valley is located on the western and northern shores of Richardson Bay...
in 1934, with letters
Varsity letter
A varsity letter is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its winner was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met.- Description :...
in football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, baseball, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
; his football coach was former Cal star Roy Riegels
Roy Riegels
Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels played for the University of California, Berkeley football team from 1927 to 1929...
.
College career
Going to the university at Riegels' suggestion, Chapman starred in football for the Golden BearsCalifornia Golden Bears football
The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium, however the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park in 2011 while Memorial Stadium was being renovated, the team will return to...
, being named an All-American for the 1937 Pacific Coast Conference
Pacific Coast Conference
The Pacific Coast Conference was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pacific-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, the older league had a completely different charter and was disbanded in 1959 due to a major crisis...
and national champion "Thunder Team", which went on to win the 1938 Rose Bowl
1938 Rose Bowl
The 1938 Rose Bowl was played on January 1, 1938, and was the 24th Rose Bowl. The game featured the California Golden Bears against the Alabama Crimson Tide, two of the top teams from the 1937 college football season...
; the last time California has won the game. Nicknamed the "Tiburon Terror", Chapman was also an All-American baseball player in college.
Professional career
Turning down a pro football career after being draftedNFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
in the third round of the 1938 NFL Draft
1938 NFL Draft
The 1938 National Football League Draft was held on December 12, 1937. The draft consisting of 12 rounds and 110 player selections, began with the leagues newest expansion team the Cleveland Rams taking Corbett Davis and ended with the Mr...
by the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, he made his debut with the Athletics on May 16, , shortly after graduation. He played the rest of the year in left field
Left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...
, moving to center field the following year. As a rookie he batted
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.259 with 17 home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s (second on the team to Bob Johnson) and 63 runs batted in
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
. His batting average and RBI total increased steadily in each of the next three campaigns, to .269/64 (1939) and .276/75 (1940) before peaking with a .322 average and 106 RBI in . In the latter year he had his best season, finishing fifth in the AL in both slugging average (.543) and total bases
Total bases
In baseball statistics, total bases refers to the number of bases a player has gained with hits, i.e., the sum of his hits weighted by 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run.Only bases attained from hits count toward this total....
(300), with a career-best 25 home runs. On May 5, , Chapman hit for the cycle
Hitting for the cycle
In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter hitting a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are uncommon in Major League Baseball , occurring 293 times since the first by Curry...
against the St. Louis Browns
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
.
He joined the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
after the 1941 season, and served as a pilot and flight instructor in Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
. He returned to the Athletics in late 1945, and was named to the AL All-Star
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
team in . But he never quite returned to his pre-war level of play; apart from 1949, when he batted .278 with 24 HRs (tied for third in the AL) and 108 RBI (fifth in the AL), he never exceeded a .261 average. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
in May , and ended the year with a .215 batting mark; he left the major leagues at the end of that season, but played three more years for the Oakland Oaks
Oakland Oaks (PCL)
The Oakland Oaks were a minor league baseball team in Oakland, California that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 through 1955, after which the club transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia...
of the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
. In an 11-season major league career, Chapman posted a .266 batting average with 180 home runs, 773 RBI, 754 runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
, 1329 hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
and 41 stolen base
Stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...
s in 1368 games.
After baseball
After leaving baseball, Chapman became an inspector for the Bay Area Air Quality Management DistrictBay Area Air Quality Management District
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is a public agency that regulates the stationary sources of air pollution in the nine counties of California's San Francisco Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southwestern Solano, and southern Sonoma...
. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1984, and to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame honors sports figures who have made a significant impact in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organization is a section 501 non-profit, that was created by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in 1979.-Inductees:...
in 1987. In 1999 he was named to the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame
Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame
The Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame is a collection of plaques, mounted on a brick wall in the Ashburn Alley section of Citizens Bank Park, the ballpark of the Philadelphia Phillies...
. In 2006, the Tiburon Town Council voted to commission a statue of Chapman to be installed at the Tiburon ferry landing.
Chapman died at an assisted-living residence in Kentfield, California
Kentfield, California
Kentfield is a census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Kentfield is located on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad southwest of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 115 feet . The population was 6,485 at the 2010 census...
at the age of 90, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
for several years.