black armbands for ray chapman

ray chapman was the shortstop for the cleveland indians from late in the 1912 season through august 16, 1920.  the schedule that day in august saw the indians play the yankees, and chapman was beaned in the head by yankee starter carl mays.  although he was initially able to walk to first base, chapman soon thereafter collapsed on the field and was taken to the hospital.  he passed away the next day, becoming the only major league player to die from being hit by a pitch, and one of two to have died directly or indirectly (the philadelphia athletics' doc powers died in 1909 from post-surgical infections brought on after being operated on to fix internal injuries he suffered after crashing into an outfield fence during a game) from injuries sustained on the field.

according to the hall of fame, many teams added black armbands to their uniforms in honor of chapman, including the indians, red sox, tigers, and yankees in the american league, along with the reds, robins, cubs, and giants in the national league.  i have in my memorials binder a few cards showing the armband, such as this 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts ty cobb card

the tigers went away from the old english 'd' from 1918 through 1920, and 1920 is the only season that they wore a black armband (according to the hall of fame), so i am confident that the armband cobb is sporting is in honor of chapman.

[edit - i later came across a 2004 topps tribute card of cobb

that shows the armband more prominently than the legendary cuts card, so i've swapped it out in my collection.]

similarly, the uniform that babe ruth is wearing on this 2011 topps stickers foil sticker

includes the black armband that the bronx bombers wore for chapman.  i know this because the jersey features the 'new york' lettering that the team wore on their away jerseys from the beginning of ruth's tenure with the team in 1920 through 1926. the club went back to 'new york' on the away grays during the last few seasons of ruth's yankee days (1930-1934), but the placement of the 'y' was different.  besides, the only other time the yankees wore a black armband while ruth was a member of the team was at the end of the 1929 season to mark the passing of manager miller huggins, which came during the time that the team's away jerseys said 'yankees' on the front.

[edit - i was happy to see topps use this image on a regular sized card in 2021 archives

so i've swapped it out in my collection.]

also from the yankee team of 1920 comes the photo of hank thormahlen that was used on his 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set

thormahlen actually looks like he's wearing two black armbands, and i don't know why.  he was a pitcher with the yankees from 1917 through 1920.  thormahlen actually relieved carl mays later in that fateful game and threw a scoreless 9th inning.

chapman's team, the indians, wore the armband for the remainder of the season and postseason, as they advanced to the world series against the brooklyn robins.  you'll notice in the photo linked above that, while the indians wore the armbands in the fall classic, the robins did not, or at least did not for the entire series.  i would guess that it was more likely that the non-cleveland teams wore the armband for a short time during the month of august.

anyway, this 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts card represents the armband worn by the tribe in my collection. it features their ace - hall of famer stan coveleski

who is also wearing the armband on his 2006 upper deck classics card

coveleski was the starter for the indians in the game in which chapman was beaned, and he beat the yankees with a complete game for his 19th win of the season.  coveleski went on to beat the robins three times in the world series by completing each of his three starts, one of which was a shutout.

in 2010, the indians broke out the 1920 uniforms, complete with the black armband, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of their first championship.  here's a shin-soo choo toppstown card from 2011 topps that shows the throwback uni

so, i've got 3 of the 8 teams that reportedly wore the armbands in my collection, and i'm on the lookout for the others although i'm not holding out hope.

the evolution of the ace, part the fourth

not too far to go now, here's jeff weaver (2004-2005)

weaver was acquired from the yankees in the kevin brown deal.  he was one of three dodger pitchers (kaz ishii and jose lima were the others) to win 13 games in 2004, but it was weaver who led the rotation in starts, innings pitched, and strikeouts.  in 2005, weaver again led the team in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts on what was a very disappointing team.  it was the year of jim tracy's parade of ja(y)sons (phillips, grabowski, werth, and repko).  'nuff said.

derek lowe (2006)

derek lowe was 16-8 in 2006, tying brad penny for the team lead in wins.  however, lowe's era was 3.63 compared to penny's 4.33, and lowe also pitched more innings and had a better whip.  he also threw the lone complete game of the season for the dodgers, a 4-2 win over the mariners, lowe's original team.

brad penny (2007)

penny was 16-4 with a 3.03 era in 33 starts in 2007.  he started the all-star game for the national league, and finished third in the cy young voting.

chad billingsley (2008)

bills put up good numbers in 20 starts and 43 overall appearances in 2007 (12-5, 3.31 era) and then went 16-10 in 32 starts with a 3.12 era in 2008.  he threw his first career shutout that year, and struck out 201 batters.  he also won game 2 of the nlds against the cubs before struggling in game 2 of the nlcs against the eventual world champion phillies.

clayton kershaw (2009-present)

(thanks for the sticker, night owl). even though kershaw was just 8-8 in 2009, i'll still anoint him as the ace thanks to his 2.79 era.  he made 30 starts for the dodgers, and led the staff in strikeouts despite pitching fewer innings than randy wolf or billingsley.  2010 saw kershaw go 13-10 with a 2.91 era and 212 k's over 204.1 innings pitched in 32 starts.  of course, his 2011 numbers were even better, as he captured the pitching triple crown with 21 wins, a 2.28 era, and 248 strikeouts.  his 0.98 whip also led the league.

so, there you have it, in four installments.  from newcombe to kershaw - the evolution of the dodgers' ace.

up next (and by next i mean someday), the infield...