Sam Chapman Samuel Blake Chapman ( April 11 , 1916 – December 22 , 2006 ) was an American two - sport athletic star who played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball , spending nearly his entire career with the Philadelphia Athletics ( 1938 – 1941 , 1945 – 1951 ) . He batted and threw right - handed , leading the American League in putout s four times . He was previously an All - America n college football player at the University of California . Early life . Born in Tiburon , California , Chapman graduated from Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley , California in 1934 , with letters in football , baseball , basketball and track ; his football coach was former Cal star Roy Riegels . College career . Going to the university at Riegels ' suggestion , Chapman starred in football for the Golden Bears , being named an All - American for the 1937 Pacific Coast Conference and national champion " Thunder Team " , which went on to win the 1938 Rose Bowl ; the last time California has won the game . Nicknamed the " Tiburon Terror " , Chapman was also an All - American baseball player in college . Professional career . Turning down a pro football career after being drafted in the third round of the 1938 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins of the National Football League , he made his debut with the Athletics on May 16 , , shortly after graduation . He played the rest of the year in left field , moving to center field the following year . As a rookie he batted . 259 with 17 home run s ( second on the team to Bob Johnson ) and 63 runs batted in . His batting average and RBI total increased steadily in each of the next three campaigns , to . 269 / 64 ( 1939 ) and . 276 / 75 ( 1940 ) before peaking with a . 322 average and 106 RBI in . In the latter year he had his best season , finishing fifth in the AL in both slugging average ( . 543 ) and total bases ( 300 ) , with a career - best 25 home runs . On May 5 , , Chapman hit for the cycle against the St . Louis Browns . He joined the Navy for World War II after the 1941 season , and served as a pilot and flight instructor in Corpus Christi , Texas . He returned to the Athletics in late 1945 , and was named to the AL All - Star team in . But he never quite returned to his pre - war level of play ; apart from 1949 , when he batted . 278 with 24 HRs ( tied for third in the AL ) and 108 RBI ( fifth in the AL ) , he never exceeded a . 261 average . He was traded to the Cleveland Indians in May , and ended the year with a . 215 batting mark ; he left the major leagues at the end of that season , but played three more years for the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League . In an 11 - season major league career , Chapman posted a . 266 batting average with 180 home runs , 773 RBI , 754 runs , 1329 hits and 41 stolen base s in 1368 games . After baseball . After leaving baseball , Chapman became an inspector for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District . He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984 , and to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 . In 1999 he was named to the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame . In 2006 , the Tiburon Town Council voted to commission a statue of Chapman to be installed at the Tiburon ferry landing . Chapman died at an assisted - living residence in Kentfield , California at the age of 90 , after suffering from Alzheimer ' s disease for several years .