A top-notch bunter, Chapman is sixth on the all-time list for sacrifice hits and holds the single season record with 67 in 1917.

Shortly before the season began, Chapman married Kathleen Daly, who was the daughter of a prominent Cleveland businessman.

[8] On August 16, 1920, while at bat, Chapman was struck in the head and killed by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays during a game against the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds.

[9] At the time, pitchers commonly dirtied balls with soil, licorice, and tobacco juice, and otherwise scuffed, sandpapered, scarred, cut, or spiked them, giving a "misshapen, earth-colored ball that traveled through the air erratically, tended to soften in the later innings, and, as it came over the plate, was very hard to see.

[1] Home plate umpire Tommy Connolly, noticing that Chapman was bleeding from his left ear, screamed towards the stands for a doctor.

[11][12] Chapman was taken to St. Lawrence Hospital, a short distance from the Polo Grounds, where he was diagnosed with a depressed skull fracture.

[13][14][15] Thousands of mourners attended Chapman's funeral at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland[2] and he was buried at Lake View Cemetery.

[1][19] In 2007 it was refurbished and made part of Progressive Field's Heritage Park, which includes the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame and other exhibits from the team's history.