1918 Flu Pandemic: Babe Ruth led in Home Runs first time.

Babe Ruth pitching with Boston Red Sox, Comiskey Park, 1914, Wikimedia Commons

1918 FLU PANDEMIC DID NOT SPARE BASEBALL
Part of the BASEBALL HISTORY series
Written by: Bill Francis

The influenza pandemic of 1918 was a highly contagious strain that viciously attacked the respiratory system. By the time it had spread across the United States, the deadly event had killed an estimated 675,000 Americans...

... lasted just 15 months but killed, according to best estimates today, between 50 million and 100 million worldwide. It infected an estimated 500 million people around the world, about a third of the planet’s total population...

Among ballplayers, often recently active, the flu took: ... Larry Chappell, a big league outfielder for the White Sox, Indians and Boston Braves between 1913 and 1917 ...

... 46-year-old Umpire Silk O’Loughlin passed away on December 20, 1918 ... at his Boston apartment, where he was working in the offseason for the Department of Justice, after a short illness from influenza...

O’Loughlin umpired in the American League from 1902 to 1918 while working the World Series in 1906, 1909, 1912, 1915 and 1917.
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Larry Chappell

Position: Leftfielder

Bats: Left  •  Throws: Right

6-0, 186 lb

Born: February 19, 1890 in McClusky, IL us

Died: November 8, 1918 (Aged 28-262 days) in San Francisco, CA

Buried: Oak Grove Cemetery, Jerseyville, IL

Career 109 games, 339 plate appearances

July 14, 1913: Traded by Milwaukee (American Association) to the Chicago White Sox for Johnny Beall and $13500 and a catcher to be named next spring.

February 14, 1916: the Chicago White Sox sent Larry Chappell to the Cleveland Indians to complete an earlier deal made on August 21, 1915. August 21, 1915: The Chicago White Sox sent a player to be named later, Ed Klepfer, Braggo Roth and $31,500 to the Cleveland Indians for Shoeless Joe Jackson.

August 26, 1916: Purchased by the Boston Braves from the Cleveland Indians for $18,000.

Larry Chappell appears to be the only major league player to die from the 1918 flu.

In 1918 Chappell played 77 games for the Salt Lake City Bees in the Pacific Coast League: 289 At Bats, .325 Batting Average, .460 Slugging Average.

In the American League Boston Red Sox Babe Ruth started transitioning from full time pitcher to non pitcher. AL Home Run leaders in 1918:

Rk	Player	HR	AB	SO	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Babe Ruth	11	317	58	1918	23	BOS	AL	95	382	50	95	26	11	61	58		2	3			6		.300	.411	.555	.966	7138/H
2	Tillie Walker	11	414	44	1918	30	PHA	AL	114	466	56	122	20	0	48	41		1	10			8		.295	.360	.423	.782	*8/H
3	Home Run Baker	6	504	13	1918	32	NYY	AL	126	558	65	154	24	5	62	38		2	12			8		.306	.357	.409	.765	*5
4	George Burns	6	505	25	1918	25	PHA	AL	130	544	61	178	22	9	70	23		8	8			8		.352	.390	.467	.857	*3/79
5	Harry Heilmann	5	286	10	1918	23	DET	AL	79	331	34	79	10	6	43	35		2	8			13		.276	.359	.406	.765	*93/4H
6	Smoky Joe Wood	5	422	38	1918	28	CLE	AL	119	481	41	125	22	4	66	36		3	20			8		.296	.356	.403	.759	*749/38H

Ruth would lead in Home Runs many more times, including another tie: 46 homers in 1931 with Yankee teammate Lou Gehrig.

How much did Babe Ruth pitch and bat at the same time? Monday, April 9, 2018

... in 1918 and 1919 the schedule was shortened because of U.S. involvement in the first World War.  The Red Sox played these number of games during Ruth's years with them:
1914 91-62 (2) = 153
1915 101-50 (1) = 151
1916 91-63 (1) = 154
1917 90-62 (2) = 152
1918 75-51 (1) = 126
1919 66-71 (6) = 137

There is some overlap in 1918 and 1919 when Ruth both pitched and played another position so for those years only his starts at OF and 1B are shown.
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