Harry Chappas, White Sox shortstop whose height generated national media attention, dies at 66

White Sox fans of a certain age will remember shortstop Harry Chappas.

Mr. Chappas, who played 72 games for the Sox in three seasons (1978-80), was listed at 5 foot 3 — a height that generated national media attention and a bit of controversy. Some skeptics, including teammates, questioned whether team owner and legendary showman Bill Veeck wanted Mr. Chappas on the roster as a novelty to garner publicity or because he could actually play ball.

Mr. Chappas was playing for a minor league affiliate in Appleton, Wis., in 1978, when the Sox (a 90-71 team that year) called him up in September for a 20-game stretch in which he hit .267 and fielded 92 chances without an error.

In 1979, after a solid performance in spring training, Mr. Chappas was brought onto the team. Just before the start of the season, he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated under the headline "The Littlest Rookie." In the accompanying story, Veeck, who, in 1951 as owner of the St. Louis Browns, made history by giving 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel one turn at bat as a publicity stunt, addressed the height issue of both players.

"Gaedel was a gag," Veeck said. "Chappas is a player. Except for winning, there is nothing I would rather have than for Chappas to play shortstop. When he came up last year he immediately caught the fancy of the fans. If he plays, we'll draw, because everybody loves to see a little guy get ahead. If David hadn't beat Goliath, nobody would have heard of either one of them. David would have been just another guy who was scrounged in the ground."

Chappas said in the story of all the attention paid to his height: "It doesn't really bother me anymore. I've learned to ignore it. I might laugh just to go along, but it doesn't absorb. I've never felt I was unusual so I don't know why other people do. As long as I'm wearing a major league uniform, I don't care what anybody says."

After all the hype, Mr. Chappas started as shortstop on opening day in 1979. But two weeks later he was sent back down to the minors after missing a base-running call. He'd play one more season in the league, with more shuffling between the minors and the White Sox.

Mr. Chappas died Sept. 15 in his home state of Florida from cancer. He was 66.

Mr. Chappas had been listed at 5 foot 7 in the minors and when he made the leap to the majors he suddenly became 5 foot 3 (Mr. Chappas said he was actually about 5 foot 5).

In 1980, Mr. Chappas told the Sun-Times: "I was Bill Veeck's image of what a circus promoter wants."

At a game in Kansas City, Mr. Chappas was measured against opposing player Freddie Patek by then-White Sox announcer Harry Caray to confirm that Mr. Chappas was the shortest player in the league, according to Charlie Evranian, who managed the White Sox farm system in the ’70s.

"Veeck was always one who saw an opportunity and he used it any way he could. I don't think it was in a mean way, or meant to diminish Harry as a ballplayer," Evranian said.

"Now, how Harry took it; he echoed at the time that he thought he may have been exploited, but yet he was there and he was getting paid well. And the fact of the matter was that the White Sox were in search of a shortstop and Harry was probably the best we had in the organization at the time," Evranian said.

"He had real talent," said Veeck's son, Mike Veeck, who worked with his dad, was the architect behind Disco Demolition and is a co-owner of the Joliet Slammers. "You don't make it to the big leagues even for an hour without being one of the gifted."

Mr. Chappas got into a motorcycle accident in Italy while playing in the Italian League as part of his effort to get back to the big leagues, he told the Sun-Times in 2002. A metal rod was put in his leg, and his prospects of a return were dashed.

Harry Perry Chappas was born Oct. 26, 1957, to Perry Harry Chappas, a television repairman, and Valli Chappas, a cook and baker for public schools.

He was a star athlete in high school and attended community college for a year before focusing on baseball. He played at Miami Dade College before the White Sox drafted him into their farm system in 1976.

In the last few decades, Mr. Chappas lived outside of Fort Lauderdale, not far from where he grew up.

In the 2002 interview with the Sun-Times, Mr. Chappas said of the fuss over his height: "My dad was only 5-7, and my mom just 5-3, so I stopped somewhere in the middle. But size never meant anything to me other than it made me play harder."

Services are being planned in Coral Springs, Fla.