Chapman was born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, and raised in Herrin, Illinois. He broke into the major leagues in 1912 with the Cleveland team, then known as the Naps.

Chapman led the American League in runs scored and walks in 1918. A top-notch bunter, Chapman is sixth on the all-time list for sacrifice hits and holds the single season record with 67 in 1917. Only Stuffy McInnis has more career sacrifices as a right-handed batter. Chapman was also an excellent shortstop who led the league in assists once. He batted .300 or better three times, and led the Indians in stolen bases four times. In 1917, he set a team record of 52 stolen bases, which stood until 1980. He was hitting .303 with 97 runs scored when he died. He was one of the few players who Ty Cobb considered a friend.

On August 16, 1920, Chapman was struck in the head and killed by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays during a game against the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds. At the time, pitchers commonly dirtied balls with soil, licorice, and tobacco juice, and scuffed, sandpapered, scarred, cut, or spiked them, giving a “misshapen, earth-colored ball that traveled through the air erratically, tended to soften in the later innings, and, as it came over the plate, was very hard to see.” Mays threw with a submarine delivery, and it was late afternoon. Eyewitnesses recounted that Chapman did not react to the pitch at all, presumably unable to see it. The sound of the ball striking Chapman’s skull was so loud that Mays thought it had hit the end of Chapman’s bat; he fielded the ball and threw to first base.

A bronze plaque was designed in Chapman’s memory, funded by donations from fans, was hung at League Park and was moved to Cleveland Stadium when the Indians moved there in 1946. Sometime in the early 1970s, however, it was removed for unknown reasons. In 2007 it was refurbished and made part of Progressive Field’s Heritage Park, which includes the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame and other exhibits from the team’s history. Chapman had been inducted into the team Hall of Fame in 2006, part of the first new induction class since 1972.