The Pitch That Killed

Since major league baseball began in 1871, there have been roughly thirty million pitches thrown to batters. Only one of them killed a man. This is the story of Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians, a popular player struck in the head and killed in August 1920 by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. Was it, as most baseball observers thought at the time, a tragic but unavoidable accident? Mike Sowell's brilliant book investigates the incident and probes deep into the backgrounds of the players involved and the events that led to one of baseball's darkest moments.

"The best baseball book no one has read."―ESPN Magazine

"Splendidly researched and vivid as today. The portraits of baseball as it was, the tragedy itself, and the glowering character of Carl Mays are remarkable."―Roger Kahn