Ben Chapman

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1930-1946)

AVG .302
HR 90
RBI 977
H 1,958
OPS .823
PIV 17,410
Position
Outfielder
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'0" / 190 lb
Born
12/25/1908 in Nashville, TN, USA
Died
7/7/1993 in Hoover, AL, USA
MLB Debut
1930-04-15
Last Game
1946-05-12
Awards
4× All-Star

Full name: William Benjamin Chapman

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Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
1,717 6,478 1,144 1,958 407 107 90 977 287 824 556 .302 .383 .440 .823 17,410

Career AVG .302 vs. league average .273 across their career seasons — +10.8% above league average.

Career OBP .383 vs. league average .338 across their career seasons — +13.4% above league average.

Career SLG .440 vs. league average .387 across their career seasons — +13.7% above league average.

Career OPS .823 vs. league average .725 across their career seasons — +13.5% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1930 NYA AL 138 513 74 162 31 10 10 81 14 43 58 .316 .293 (+7%) .354 (+5%) .429 (+10%) .784 (+8%) 819.9
1931 NYA AL 149 600 120 189 28 11 17 122 61 75 77 .315 .276 (+14%) .338 (+17%) .388 (+24%) .726 (+21%) 2744.4
1932 NYA AL 151 581 101 174 41 15 10 107 38 71 55 .299 .275 (+9%) .335 (+13%) .391 (+21%) .726 (+17%) 2145.6
1933 NYA AL 147 565 112 176 36 4 9 98 27 72 45 .312 .270 (+15%) .329 (+19%) .377 (+16%) .707 (+17%) 2214.4
1934 NYA AL 149 588 82 181 21 13 5 86 26 67 68 .308 .278 (+11%) .340 (+12%) .392 (+5%) .733 (+8%) 1162.7
1935 NYA AL 140 553 118 160 38 8 8 74 17 61 39 .289 .279 (+3%) .342 (+5%) .399 (+8%) .742 (+7%) 763.9
1936 NYA AL 36 139 19 37 14 3 1 21 1 15 20 .266 .283 (-6%) .349 (-3%) .404 (+7%) .753 (+2%) 11.5
1936 WS1 AL 97 401 91 133 36 7 4 60 19 69 18 .332 .283 (+17%) .349 (+23%) .404 (+20%) .753 (+22%) 11.5
1937 WS1 AL 35 130 23 34 7 1 0 12 8 26 7 .262 .276 (-5%) .342 (+12%) .398 (-17%) .740 (-3%) 17.0
1937 BOS AL 113 423 76 130 23 11 7 57 27 57 35 .307 .276 (+11%) .342 (+14%) .398 (+16%) .740 (+15%) 17.0
1938 BOS AL 127 480 92 163 40 8 6 80 13 65 33 .340 .272 (+24%) .341 (+22%) .392 (+26%) .734 (+24%) 2441.8
1939 CLE AL 149 545 101 158 31 9 6 82 18 87 30 .290 .274 (+6%) .342 (+14%) .393 (+5%) .735 (+9%) 1282.2
1940 CLE AL 143 548 82 157 40 6 4 50 13 78 45 .286 .267 (+7%) .335 (+13%) .387 (+4%) .722 (+8%) 1072.7
1941 WS1 AL 28 110 9 28 6 0 1 10 2 10 6 .255 .262 (-3%) .332 (-5%) .373 (-10%) .705 (-7%) -126.9
1941 CHA AL 57 190 26 43 9 1 2 19 2 19 14 .226 .262 (-14%) .332 (-11%) .373 (-15%) .705 (-13%) -126.9
1944 BRO NL 20 38 11 14 4 0 0 11 1 5 4 .368 — — — — 0.0
1945 BRO NL 13 22 2 3 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 .136 — — — — 0.0
1945 PHI NL 24 51 4 16 2 0 0 4 0 2 1 .314 .260 (+20%) .328 (+3%) .354 (-1%) .683 (+1%) 0.0
1946 PHI NL 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 19 seasons 1,717 6,478 1,144 1,958 407 107 90 977 287 824 556 .302 — — — — 14,451

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
8 6 25 16 8 0 0 141.0 147 69 7 71 65 4.40 -1547.9

Career ERA 4.40 vs. league average 3.61 across their career seasons — 22.0% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1944 BRO NL 5 3 11 9 6 0 0 79.3 75 30 33 37 3.40 3.57 (+5%) -372.1
1945 BRO NL 3 3 10 7 2 0 0 53.7 64 33 32 23 5.53 3.67 (-51%) -1175.8
1945 PHI NL 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 7.0 7 6 6 4 7.71 — 0.0
1946 PHI NL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 0 0 1 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 4 seasons 8 6 25 16 8 0 0 141.0 147 69 71 65 4.40 — -1,548

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
4 17 1 5 2 0 0 6 2 4 .294

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1932 WS NYA 4 17 1 5 2 0 0 6 2 4 .294

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1742 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home837306652294741437.309
Away8803413622101249544.297

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home1069.1633034363.89
Away1572.1843938304.85

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1946-05-12 PHIBROL 110000000
1945-09-30 PHIBROL 101000010
1945-09-21 PHIBROL 502000100
1945-09-21 PHIBROL 400000000
1945-09-19 PHIBSNL 501000001
1945-09-17 PHISTLL 100000000
1945-09-16 PHISTLL 101000000
1945-09-16 PHISTLW 101000200
1945-09-15 PHISTLL 412000000
1945-09-14 PHICHCL 201100000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1946-05-12 PHIBRO — 1.2100010
1945-09-07 PHICIN — 1.0000120
1945-07-24 PHICHC — 1.0344200
1945-07-08 PHICHC — 5.0442320
1945-06-09 BROPHI W 8.21277421
1945-06-03 BROCIN L 8.0922620
1945-05-29 BROCHC W 9.0833320
1945-05-24 BROSTL — 2.0300100
1945-05-20 BROCHC — 2.0111110
1945-05-18 BROCHC W 5.2533331

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
2B 56 0 157 179 20 40
3B 96 0 102 156 26 12
OF 1495 0 3476 156 125 31
P 25 0 5 20 2 1
SS 1 0 2 1 1 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1930 NYA 2B 45 0 132 146 18 36
1930 NYA 3B 91 0 100 149 24 11
1931 NYA 2B 11 0 25 33 2 4
1931 NYA OF 137 0 300 14 12 1
1932 NYA OF 150 0 303 13 17 2
1933 NYA OF 147 0 288 24 8 4
1934 NYA OF 149 0 368 12 13 2
1935 NYA OF 138 0 372 25 15 7
1936 NYA OF 36 0 106 3 4 0
1936 WS1 OF 97 0 271 10 12 4
1937 WS1 OF 32 0 87 1 4 0
1937 BOS OF 112 0 262 9 4 1
1937 BOS SS 1 0 2 1 1 0
1938 BOS 3B 1 0 0 1 0 0
1938 BOS OF 126 0 267 15 10 5
1939 CLE OF 146 0 356 12 11 0
1940 CLE OF 140 0 307 10 12 3
1941 WS1 OF 26 0 54 3 1 1
1941 CHA OF 49 0 122 4 1 1
1944 BRO P 11 0 3 6 1 0
1945 BRO P 10 0 2 13 1 1
1945 PHI 3B 4 0 2 6 2 1
1945 PHI OF 10 0 13 1 1 0
1945 PHI P 3 0 0 1 0 0
1946 PHI P 1 0 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 25
Second Base 56
Third Base 96
Shortstop 1
Left Field 403
Center Field 582
Right Field 548

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1933 Most Valuable Player AL 20th 4.0 80 0
1931 Most Valuable Player AL 15th 7.0 80 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Ben Chapman (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    King Kelly HOF
    .307 avg, 69 HR
  2. 92
    Bobby Veach
    .310 avg, 64 HR
  3. 92
    Dixie Walker
    .306 avg, 105 HR
  4. 91
    Minnie Miñoso HOF
    .299 avg, 195 HR
  5. 87
    Kip Selbach
    .293 avg, 44 HR
  6. 86
    Augie Galan
    .287 avg, 100 HR

Frequently Asked Questions about Ben Chapman

What years did Ben Chapman play?
Ben Chapman played in Major League Baseball from 1930 to 1946.
Was Ben Chapman a pitcher?
Both. Ben Chapman pitched in 25 games, going 8-6 with a 4.4 ERA, but spent most of his career as an Outfielder.
How many home runs did Ben Chapman hit?
Ben Chapman hit 90 career home runs with 1958 hits.