Ben Chapman

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

Ben Chapman was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1930 to 1946 for 7 teams, including the New York Yankees, a span of 17 seasons. In 1,717 career games, he hit .302 with 1,958 hits, 90 home runs, and 977 RBI. He also pitched in 25 games, going 8-6 with a 4.40 ERA. Ben Chapman was a 4-time All-Star. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 17,410.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

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

📋 View Manager Career

📊 Compare This Player 📈 View Career Timeline

Career Batting Statistics

Ben Chapman — 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.

Ben Chapman Stats, Bio & Career Records
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

Ben Chapman — 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.

Ben Chapman — Season-by-Season Pitching
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 79.1 75 30 33 37 3.40 3.57 (+5%) -372.1
1945 BRO NL 3 3 10 7 2 0 0 53.2 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

Ben Chapman — 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

Ben Chapman — 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

Ben Chapman — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home837306652294741437.309
Away8803413622101249544.297

Pitching — Home / Away

Ben Chapman — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home1069.1633034363.89
Away1572.1843938304.85

Last 10 Games — Batting

Ben Chapman — 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

Ben Chapman — 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

Ben Chapman — 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

Ben Chapman — 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.

Ben Chapman Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 25
Second Base 56
Third Base 96
Shortstop 1
Left Field 403
Center Field 582
Right Field 548

Award Voting History

Ben Chapman — 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

Ben Chapman: the record in brief

Ben Chapman's major league career runs from a debut on April 15, 1930 to a final game on May 12, 1946. Club by club, the record runs the New York Yankees (1930 through 1936), the Washington Senators (1936 to 1941), the Boston Red Sox (1937 through 1938), the Cleveland Indians (1939 through 1940), the Chicago White Sox (1941), the Brooklyn Dodgers (1944 to 1945), and the Philadelphia Phillies (1945 to 1946). Chapman played primarily as an outfielder and both batted and threw right-handed. Born on December 25, 1908, in Nashville, TN, USA, Chapman was listed at 6 feet, 0 inches and 190 pounds. The bio records the death on July 7, 1993, in Hoover, AL, USA. Ben Chapman was the playing name; the full given name is William Benjamin.

In 1,717 games and 6,478 at bats, Chapman batted .302 with 1,958 hits; the totals also include 90 home runs, 977 runs batted in, and 287 stolen bases. Chapman got on base at a .383 rate and slugged .440 (.823 OPS).

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.
What was Ben Chapman's career batting average?
Ben Chapman batted .302 over his career, with 1,958 hits in 6,478 at bats.
How many RBI did Ben Chapman have?
Ben Chapman drove in 977 runs in his career.
What was Ben Chapman's career ERA?
Ben Chapman finished with a 4.40 career ERA, going 8-6 with 65 strikeouts.