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Carl William Mays (November 12, 1891 – April 4, 1971) was an American baseball pitcher who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. During his career, he won over 200 games, 27 in 1921 alone, and was a member of four World Series-champion teams. On August 16, 1920, Mays threw the pitch that fatally injured Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians, the only major league player to die as a direct result of an on-field injury. Carl Mays: My Pitch That Killed Chapman Was A Strike! by Phyllis Propert, Baseball Digest, July 1957, Vol. 16, No. 6, "The Death of Ray Chapman", The New York Times, August 17, 1920
Mays quit high school before graduating and began to earn a living as a baseball player on semi-pro teams in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Utah. In 1912, he entered the minor leagues as a member of the Boise, Idaho, team in the Class D Western Tri-State League. After a season in Boise, in 1913 Mays played one season for the Portland, Oregon, team in the Class A Northwest League. In 1914, Mays was drafted by the Triple-A International League's Providence Grays. The Grays were an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and the Tigers sold his contract to the Boston Red Sox.
In one version of the story, Mays learned his underhand style of pitching from Dizzy Dismukes, a pitcher in Negro league baseball. In another, he was taught the technique by Joe McGinnity when McGinnity coached the Tacoma team during Mays's stint with Portland. Mays was nicknamed "Sub", a reference to his submarine pitching motion, and he was known to throw a spitball. The pitch was legal at the time of the Chapman incident, but Chapman's death was partly responsible for its ban in Major League Baseball (although the ban wouldn't take effect until 1921). Mays was also known for a habit of throwing inside to any batter who hugged the plate; despite a stellar win–loss record, he was typically among the American League leaders in hit batsmen. Mays was also regarded as an exceptional fielder, and was capable enough with the bat that he was often used as a pinch-hitter.
In his rookie season of 1915, Mays appeared in 34 games for the Red Sox. Used mostly in relief, he won 6 games and lost 5. During the regular season, Mays was involved in a heated confrontation with Ty Cobb of the Tigers. Mays threw near Cobb each time he came to bat. In the eighth inning, after another close pitch, Cobb threw his bat in Mays' direction, calling him a "no good son of a bitch". Mays responded by calling Cobb a "yellow dog". After order was restored, Mays hit Cobb directly on the wrist. The Tigers won the game 6–1 and the incident cemented Mays' reputation as a head hunter. The Red Sox won that year's World Series by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in five games, but Mays did not play.
In 1916, Mays appeared in 44 games, and started 24. 18 of his starts were complete games, and he posted a record of 18 wins and 13 losses, with an earned run average of 2.39. In the 1916 World Series, Mays was the losing pitcher in Game 3, but the Red Sox defeated the Brooklyn Robins 4 games to 1. In 1917, The Red Sox posted a second-place finish. Mays pitched in 35 games, and his record was 22 wins and 9 losses, with an ERA of 1.74. Mays went 22–13 in the 1918 season, with an ERA of 2.21. The Red Sox returned to the World Series, and defeated the Chicago Cubs in 6 games. Mays was the winning pitcher in games 3 and 6, both by scores of 2–1.
Mays married for the first time shortly after the end of the 1918 season. After a brief honeymoon in Missouri, he departed by train from his home in Mansfield for St. Louis as the leader of a group of 18 men who had enlisted in the United States Army for World War I. They were sworn in on November 6, five days before the Armistice that ended that war. Spanish flu while Mays was stationed at Washington University in St. Louis as a member of the Student Army Training Corps's vocational training unit, and several individuals from his train trip died during the outbreak. The Armistice ended the need to expand the Army, and Mays was discharged in time to begin the 1919 baseball season.
Though he was by now established as one of the game's premier pitchers, Mays began the 1919 season with a record of five wins and eleven losses. His slow start resulted in the Red Sox trading him to the New York Yankees that July. Mays went 9–3 after the trade, resulting in a combined 1919 record of 14–14. Mays regained his form in 1920. The Yankees finished in third place, but posted a record of 95 wins and 59 losses, only three games out of first place. Mays went 26–11, including 26 complete games.
Chapman was taken to a hospital, where surgeons operated and discovered a skull fracture. He initially seemed to rally after the surgery but died early in the morning on the following day. Mays stayed in the game and continued to pitch until being replaced in the ninth inning. Cleveland won the game 4–3. The New York District Attorney determined that the incident was an accident, and no charges were filed.Ron Elliot, Historic Kentucky People and Places, Ray Chapman's Last Time at Bat, Courtesy of Carl Mays, accessed January 31, 2013
In an interview three months after Chapman's death, Mays expressed regret for the outcome, but he stated that he did not feel any guilt, as he had not hit Chapman on purpose; indeed, one of Chapman's last words before losing consciousness was "I'm all right; tell Mays not to worry". Mays received the wrath of many opposing players, who believed he beaned Chapman deliberately. Chapman had been one of the few players that Ty Cobb was on friendly terms with, so Cobb was the most vocal critic, suggesting that someone should give Mays a taste of his own medicine by hitting Mays with a pitch the same way Mays hit Chapman.
In a 15-year career with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Giants, Mays compiled a 207–126 record with 29 shutouts, 862 and a 2.92 earned run average when the league average was 3.48. He won twenty or more games five times. He was also noted for his skills with a at bat, hitting five , recording 111 runs batted in, and sporting a lifetime .268 batting average—an unusually high mark for a pitcher. Mays is the only Red Sox pitcher to toss two nine-inning complete game victories on the same day, as he beat the Philadelphia Athletics 12–0 and 4–1 on August 30, 1918. Those wins put the Red Sox one step from clinching the league championship, as they led Cleveland by games with four remaining to play.
He died on April 4, 1971, in El Cajon, California, and is buried in River View Cemetery, Portland, Oregon (Sec. 13, Lot 49, Sp. 7).
In 2021, indie-folk artist Cousin Wolf released a song entitled "Carl Mays" as part of an album called Nine Innings.
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