La Verne Ashford "Larry" Chappell (February 19, 1890 – November 8, 1918) was a professional baseball player who played from 1913 to 1917 for the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
,
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...
and
Boston Braves
The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta.
During it ...
.
Early life
Born in
McClusky, Illinois, Chappell played minor league baseball in several cities before making his debut in the major leagues in 1913.
MLB career
His big league career began on July 18, 1913. He hit .231 in 60 games in his rookie season, with no home runs, 15 RBI and seven stolen bases. In 39 at-bats for the White Sox in 1914, he hit .231 again. In 1915, he was hitless in one at-bat.
On February 14, 1916, Chappell was sent to the Indians as the
player to be named later
In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...
to complete a trade that originally occurred August 21, 1915. In all, the Indians received Chappell,
Braggo Roth
Robert Frank Roth (August 28, 1892 – September 11, 1936), nicknamed Braggo, was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball over parts of eight seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Phi ...
,
Ed Klepfer
Edward Lloyd Klepfer was a spitball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians in a span of six seasons between 1911 and 1919.
Klepfer, commonly known as "Big Ed", was born on Mar ...
and $31,500. The White Sox received
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...
. Chappell was the most expensive of the players sent to the Indians – he was an $18,000 bonus player.
He played in only three games for the Indians, collecting no hits in two at-bats. In May 1916, the Braves purchased him, and in 53 at-bats with them he hit .226. Overall, Chappell hit .218 with nine RBI and two stolen bases in 1916.
Chappell played his final season in 1917, appearing in four games for the Braves, collecting no hits in two at-bats. He played his final game on April 25.
Overall, Chappell hit .226 with no home runs, 26 RBI and nine stolen bases in 109 career games. He walked 25 times and struck out 42 times.
Death
In 1917, Chappell played for the
Salt Lake City Bees
The Salt Lake City Bees was a primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams, based in Salt Lake City, Utah between 1911 and 1970 under various names. After minor league baseball first began in Salt Lake City in 1900, the Bees were long-time ...
of the
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...
. Through 77 games with the Bees, he was having one of his best seasons in professional baseball, hitting .325. In May of that year, newspapers reported that four Bees players – Chappell,
Paddy Siglin,
Walt Leverenz and
Jean Dubuc
Jean Joseph Octave Dubuc (September 15, 1888 – August 28, 1958), sometimes known by the nickname "Chauncey", was a right-handed American baseball pitcher, manager, and scout, and a coach of both baseball and ice hockey.
A native of Vermont, Du ...
– were planning to join the U.S. Navy.
Chappell joined the U.S. Army Medical Corps and served at
Letterman Army Hospital
The Letterman Army Hospital, established around 1898 and redesignated as the Letterman Army Medical Center (LAMC) in 1969, was a US Army facility at the Presidio of San Francisco in San Francisco, California, US. It was decommissioned in 1994. ...
in San Francisco. He died that November after contracting the
Spanish flu
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
at the age of 28. One source holds that he died in an army camp in France, but most sources indicate that he died at Letterman Hospital. He is buried in
Oak Grove Cemetery in
Jerseyville, Illinois
Jerseyville is the largest city in and the county seat of Jersey County, Illinois, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 8,337.
Jerseyville is a part of Southern Illinois, the Metro-East region and the St. Lou ...
.
Chappell was one of eight
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
players known either to have been killed or died from illness while serving in the armed forces during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The others were
Alex Burr
Alexander Thomson Burr (November 1, 1893 – October 12, 1918) was a Major League Baseball player who was killed in World War I. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Burr was known as "Tom" to his friends. Press accounts throughout his life, as well as oth ...
‚
Harry Chapman,
Harry Glenn
Harry Melville "Husky" Glenn (June 9, 1890 – October 12, 1918) was a professional baseball player from 1910 to 1918. He played a portion of the 1915 season in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. He also played e ...
‚
Eddie Grant‚
Newt Halliday
Newton Schurz Halliday (June 18, 1896 – April 6, 1918) was an American baseball player. He appeared in a portion of one game in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 19, 1916. Halliday had three putout ...
,
Ralph Sharman
Ralph Edward Sharman (April 11, 1895 – May 24, 1918), nicknamed "Bally", was a professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball for the 1917 Philadelphia Athletics.
Career
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Sharman was a ...
and
Bun Troy
Robert Gustave "Bun" Troy (August 27, 1888 – October 7, 1918) was a German-born professional baseball pitcher who was killed in action while fighting against German forces in World War I. Troy was a sergeant with the "Blue Ridge" Division of t ...
.
See also
*
List of baseball players who died during their careers
This is a list of baseball players who died during their careers. These deaths occurred during a game, due to illness, results of accidents, acts of violence, or suicide.
Repeated studies have shown that Major League Baseball players have a greate ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chappell, Larry
1890 births
1918 deaths
Chicago White Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Boston Braves players
Baseball players from Illinois
People from Jersey County, Illinois
Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in California
Eau Claire Commissioners players
Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players
Columbus Senators players
Salt Lake City Bees players
American military personnel killed in World War I
United States Army personnel of World War I