Carl Mays

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Full Name: Carl William Mays Primary Position: P Height/Weight: 5' 11.5"/195 First Game: April 15, 1915 Birthdate: November 12, 1891 Final Game: September 24, 1929 Birthplace: Liberty, Kentucky MLB Experience: 15 years Died: April 4, 1971 Deathplace: El Cajon, California Bat/Throw: Left/Right

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[edit] Biography

Born on November 12, 1891 in Liberty, Kentucky, Carl Mays (Carl William Mays) played for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and New York Giants over the course of his 15 year career. Mays broke into the bigs on April 15, 1915 with the Boston Red Sox, and put up a 2.60 ERA in 131.2 innings pitched in 1915, his rookie year.

There is some disagreement on what was Carl Mays's most productive season. Some believe that it was 1921, when he posted a 3.05 ERA, won 27 games and struck out 70 batters. However, others believe that it was 1917, when he posted a 1.74 ERA, won 22 games and struck out 91 batters.

Mays is best remembered for throwing the pitch that struck Ray Chapman in the head on August 16, 1920, making Chapman the only major leaguer in history to die as a direct result of an on-field incident (he died the next day at a NYC hospital).

Born in Liberty, Kentucky, Mays threw with a submarine motion (he was nicknamed "Sub"), although it would be more accurate to say that he threw straight underhand. Mays was also a notorious spitball pitcher, even though this pitch was legal at the time (Chapman's beaning led directly to its being outlawed). In a 15-year career with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Giants, he compiled a 207-126 record with 29 shutouts, 862 strikeouts and a 2.92 earned run average when the league average was 3.48. He was also noted for his skills with a bat, hitting five home runs, 110 runs batted in, and a lifetime .268 batting average—an unusually high mark for a pitcher.

Mays enjoyed his best season in 1921, when he led the American League in wins (27), innings pitched (336.2), games pitched (49), and winning percentage (.750). However that same season Mays, pitching then for the Yankees, played in a World Series that others later would accuse him of helping to throw, bringing back still-lingering memories of the Black Sox scandal from just two years prior. These rumors were never proven, but they persisted long enough that, combined with an already negative reputation among other players both from the Chapman incident and from having a personality that few found agreeable, he was never elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame despite having lifetime statistics comparable to some other pitchers who were.

Carl Mays died in El Cajon, California, at the age of 79. His distant cousin, Joe Mays, is also a pitcher.

[edit] Legacy

The book The Pitch That Killed, by Mike Sowell, is a history of the Chapman-Mays tragedy.

The historical novel, The Curse of Carl Mays, by Howard Camerik, also recounts the history of the incident.

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• Traded by Boston Red Sox to New York Yankees in exchange for Allen Russell, Bob McGraw and $40000 (July 29, 1919).
• Sold by New York Yankees to Cincinnati Reds (December 11, 1923).

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