Pitching against the Hagarstown Suns, Chapin set the Suns, striking out the side twice, April 30, 1989, for his third save on the year, according to The Schenectady Gazette.
"I think I was 0-1 on every hitter today," Chapin told The Gazette. "I've always tried to go right after the hitters, and if they want to lay off that first pitch, that's okay."
Taken by the Yankees in the sixth round of the 1986 draft out of Cleveland State, the Warren, Ohio-native Chapin had started his career as a starter. He started all 13 games he appeared in for the Yankees' Gulf Coast League rookie team that year with a respectable 3.24 ERA.
But a move to the bullpen for 1987, at short-season Oneonta proved a boon. The right-hander appeared in 25 games, posting a stellar sub-1 ERA, at 0.68. Chapin continued that at single-A Fort Lauderdale in 1988, though, naturally, not as good as Oneonta. His Fort Lauderdale ERA was 0.88.
Three games at AA Albany-Colonie that year were definitely not as good, giving up five earned runs in four innings of work. All five of those earned runs came in one game June 3. After getting out of one inning, Chapin promptly came back in the next frame, giving up six hits and seven total runs, five earned, according to The Gazette.
But he returned to Albany-Colonie for that 1989 campaign. After seven games, Chapin earned the promotion to AAA Columbus. Chapin even earned the right to be mentioned by The New York Times as a big-league injury fill-in.
Chapin again pitched at both levels for 1990, returning full-time to Columbus for 1991. That's the year the Yankees gave him a look in the Bronx, as a September call-up, one of a parade of rookies for the Yankees that year. In 5.1 innings for the Bombers, Chapin gave up three earned runs and took a loss.
Chapin's run with the Yankees came to an end that off-season, traded to the Phillies for a player to be named that turned out to be Charlie Hayes. Chapin was with the Phillies for a single game in April 1992, his last. He pitched in two innings, giving up two earned runs.
Chapin spent the rest of that year at AAA Scranton, then three more seasons with three different systems before finally hanging it up after 1995.
Originally published May 23, 2010
- Schenectady Gazette, June 4, 1988: Tigers Erupt in Third, Blast A-C Yanks, 14-1
- Schenectady Gazette, May 1, 1989: A-C Yanks Conclude Successful Homestand
- Schenectady Gazette, Sept. 9, 1990: A-C Yankees still feel like champions
- New York Times, Sept. 25, 1991: For Yanks' Rookies, to Err Is Typical
- New York Times, Jan. 10, 1992: Yankees, in Whispers, Replay Who's-on-3d Act
More: The 1990 Albany Yankees
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