| Sam Chapman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Chapman, circa 1942 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Center fielder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born:(1916-04-11)April 11, 1916 Tiburon, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died: December 22, 2006(2006-12-22) (aged 90) Kentfield, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 16, 1938, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 22, 1951, for the Cleveland Indians | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .266 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 180 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 773 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Samuel Blake Chapman (April 11, 1916 – December 22, 2006) was an American two-sport athletic star who played as acenter fielder inMajor League Baseball, spending nearly his entire career with thePhiladelphia Athletics (1938–1941, 1945–1951). He batted and threw right-handed, leading theAmerican League inputouts four times. He was previously anAll-Americancollege football player at theUniversity of California.
Born inTiburon, California, Chapman graduated fromTamalpais High School inMill Valley, California in 1934, withletters infootball, baseball,basketball andtrack.
Going to the university at the suggestion of Tamalpais football coachRoy Riegels, Chapman starred in football for theGolden Bears under head coachStub Allison, where he was first nicknamed "Sleepy Sam" due to his stolid temperament.[1] He was named an All-American for the 1937Pacific Coast Conference andnational champion "Thunder Team", which went on to win the1938 Rose Bowl; the last time California has won the game. Later nicknamed the "Tiburon Terror",[2] Chapman was also an All-Americancollege baseball player.
Turning down a pro football career after beingdrafted in the third round of the1938 NFL draft by theWashington Redskins of theNational Football League, he made his debut with the Major Leagues BaseballPhiladelphia Athletics on May 16, 1938, shortly after graduation.[3][4] He played most of the season inleft field, moving to center field the following year. As a rookie, hebatted .259 with 17home runs (second on the team toBob Johnson) and 63runs 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 1941. In the latter year he had his best season, finishing fifth in the AL in bothslugging average (.543) andtotal bases (300), with a career-best 25 home runs. On May 5, 1939, Chapmanhit for the cycle against theSt. Louis Browns.[5]
He joined theNavy for World War II after the 1941 season,[6] and served as a pilot and flight instructor inCorpus Christi, Texas.[7][8] He returned to the Athletics in late 1945,[9] and was named to the ALAll-Star team in 1946. But he never quite returned to his pre-war level of play; apart from 1949, when he batted .278 with 24 home runs (tied for third in the AL) and 108 RBI (fifth in the AL), he never exceeded a .261 average. He was traded to theCleveland Indians in May 1951, 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 theOakland Oaks of thePacific Coast League. In an 11-season major league career, Chapman posted a .266 batting average with 180 home runs, 773 RBI, 754runs, 1329hits and 41stolen bases in 1368 games. Playing at all three outfield positions and first base, Chapman recorded a .972fielding percentage.
After leaving baseball, Chapman became an inspector for theBay Area Air Pollution Control District.[10] He was elected to theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1984, and to theBay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1999, he was named to thePhiladelphia 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.[11] That plan was later adjusted, and in 2012, a plaque honoring Chapman was dedicated at Point Tiburon Plaza.[12]
Chapman died at an assisted-living residence inKentfield, California, at the age of 90, after suffering fromAlzheimer's disease for several years.[13]
| Achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle May 5, 1939 | Succeeded by |
