October 6, 20241 yr Just saw on baseball-reference. Died a few weeks ago. Little guy. Listed at 5’7”, but was shorter. Famously on cover of SI. Rest in Peace
October 6, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Milkman delivers said: RIP. But is @Harry Chappas ok? Yeah, I was thinking this thread was about the poster.
October 6, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, Milkman delivers said: RIP. But is @Harry Chappas ok? My first thought.
October 6, 20241 yr 12 hours ago, Milkman delivers said: RIP. But is @Harry Chappas ok? I'm all good. When I saw the post I thought I did something to get banned from the site. Edited October 6, 20241 yr by Harry Chappas
October 6, 20241 yr 9 minutes ago, Harry Chappas said: I'm all good. When I saw the post I thought I did something to get banned from the site. Wondering how many here didn't know Harry Chappas was a Sox player . Anyway RIP to Harry Chappas.
October 6, 20241 yr https://sicovers.com/featured/chicago-white-sox-harry-chappas-march-19-1979-sports-illustrated-cover.html
October 6, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, Harry Chappas said: I'm all good. When I saw the post I thought I did something to get banned from the site. Thankfully you can’t be banned for being a terrible baseball player. We have plenty of those. 😩 Edited October 6, 20241 yr by WhiteSox2023
October 6, 20241 yr 3 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said: https://sicovers.com/featured/chicago-white-sox-harry-chappas-march-19-1979-sports-illustrated-cover.html Is that Dominic Fletcher in a throwback uniform?
October 6, 20241 yr 4 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said: https://sicovers.com/featured/chicago-white-sox-harry-chappas-march-19-1979-sports-illustrated-cover.html He looked like Ed Farmer
October 7, 20241 yr 16 hours ago, greg775 said: Sad that Harry died. I wonder what he did for a living. Time flies. I believe he played baseball. Off topic: With all due respect, if this guy played today, we’d have definitely nicknamed him Hairy Chapped Ass after his first bad game.
October 7, 20241 yr 4 hours ago, Milkman delivers said: I believe he played baseball. But he fizzed early. I wonder if he made any $$ in another profession.
October 7, 20241 yr March 19, 1979 - Sox shortstop prospect Harry Chappas appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the caption, “The Littlest Rookie. Shortstop Harry Chappas.” Chappas was all of five feet, three inches tall. His career was as brief as his height. In three years, he appeared in 72 games with 184 at bats, one home run, two stolen bases and 15 walks. Part of the reason for his struggles, from those who knew him, was because of his reluctance to take advice from coaches and teammates. His only career home run came off the Brewers Bill Travers.
October 7, 20241 yr 5 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said: March 19, 1979 - Sox shortstop prospect Harry Chappas appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the caption, “The Littlest Rookie. Shortstop Harry Chappas.” Chappas was all of five feet, three inches tall. His career was as brief as his height. In three years, he appeared in 72 games with 184 at bats, one home run, two stolen bases and 15 walks. Part of the reason for his struggles, from those who knew him, was because of his reluctance to take advice from coaches and teammates. His only career home run came off the Brewers Bill Travers. Per Wikipedia: ”Chappas was measured by Harry Caray and publicly declared to be 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m), an inch or two shorter than established star Freddie Patek. He was one of the shortest players in Major League history, although Chappas stated in an interview in Sports Illustrated that he was closer to 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m), and implied that team owner Bill Veeck exaggerated his short stature for publicity reasons.”
October 7, 20241 yr One of many times that Bill Veeck put promotional value ahead of baseball sense. He brought Chappas up to the majors at 20-years-old directly from single A, had Harry Caray measure him on TV, and made him pose for publicity photos stuffed inside a trunk. Great stunt; got him on the cover of Sports Illustrated. But you wonder if he would have had a better career if he went through a normal development process: https://vault.si.com/vault/1979/03/19/its-not-only-a-game-of-inches-whether-rookie-shortstop-harry-chappas-is-or-isnt-the-smallest-big-leaguer-is-of-little-concern-the-really-big-question-is-can-he-help-chicago-pull-up-its-sox-and-win
October 9, 20241 yr On 10/7/2024 at 2:43 PM, kba said: One of many times that Bill Veeck put promotional value ahead of baseball sense. He brought Chappas up to the majors at 20-years-old directly from single A, had Harry Caray measure him on TV, and made him pose for publicity photos stuffed inside a trunk. Great stunt; got him on the cover of Sports Illustrated. But you wonder if he would have had a better career if he went through a normal development process: https://vault.si.com/vault/1979/03/19/its-not-only-a-game-of-inches-whether-rookie-shortstop-harry-chappas-is-or-isnt-the-smallest-big-leaguer-is-of-little-concern-the-really-big-question-is-can-he-help-chicago-pull-up-its-sox-and-win Maybe, or maybe he never reached the major leagues and no one ever knew who he was. Apparently he died from cancer, and also injured his leg in a motorcycle accident way back when ending his attempts to revive his career.
October 9, 20241 yr https://chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/2024/10/09/harry-chappas-dead-white-sox-shortstop-whose-height-generated-national-media-attention-dies-at-66-obituary
October 13, 20241 yr On 10/7/2024 at 9:26 AM, Milkman delivers said: I believe he played baseball. Off topic: With all due respect, if this guy played today, we’d have definitely nicknamed him Hairy Chapped Ass after his first bad game. No, they wouldn’t. They would call him dwarf, midget, runt and any and all other height-based names.
October 14, 20241 yr I got his autograph at that time. When the Sox drafted Madrigal I thought oh great another Harry Chappas.
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