Sam Chapman
| Sam Chapman | |||
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| Center fielder | |||
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Born: April 11, 1916 Tiburon, California, U.S. |
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Died: December 22, 2006 (aged 90) Kentfield, California, U.S. |
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| MLB debut | |||
| May 16, 1938, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 22, 1951, for the Cleveland Indians | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .266 | ||
| Home runs | 180 | ||
| Runs batted in | 773 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
Samuel Blake Chapman (April 11, 1916 – December 22, 2006) was an American two-sport athletic star who played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball, spending nearly his entire career with the Philadelphia Athletics (1938–1941, 1945–1951). He batted and threw right-handed, leading the American League in putouts four times. He was previously an All-American college football player at the University of California.
Born in Tiburon, California, Chapman graduated from Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley, California in 1934, with letters in football, baseball, basketball and track; his football coach was former Cal star Roy Riegels.
Going to the university at Riegels' suggestion, Chapman starred in football for the Golden Bears, being named an All-American for the 1937 Pacific Coast Conference and national champion "Thunder Team", which went on to win the 1938 Rose Bowl; the last time California has won the game. Nicknamed the "Tiburon Terror", Chapman was also an All-American baseball player in college.
Turning down a pro football career after being drafted in the third round of the 1938 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins of the National Football League, he made his debut with the Athletics on May 16, 1938, shortly after graduation. He played the rest of the year in left field, moving to center field the following year. As a rookie, he batted .259 with 17 home runs (second on the team to Bob Johnson) and 63 runs batted in. His batting average and RBI total increased steadily in each of the next three campaigns, to .269/64 (1939) and .276/75 (1940) before peaking with a .322 average and 106 RBI in 1941. In the latter year he had his best season, finishing fifth in the AL in both slugging average (.543) and total bases (300), with a career-best 25 home runs. On May 5, 1939, Chapman hit for the cycle against the St. Louis Browns.
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