Dean Chance
Encyclopedia
Wilmer Dean Chance is a former American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

. Over the right hander's 11-year major league career, he would play for the Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...

, Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

, New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

, and Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

. With a touch of wildness and the habit of never looking at home plate once he received the sign from his catcher, Chance would turn his back fully towards the hitter in mid-windup before spinning and unleashing a good fastball, sinker, or sidearm curveball.

In , Chance became at the time the youngest pitcher to win the Cy Young Award
Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...

 when, as a member of the Los Angeles Angels, he led the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 in wins (20), innings pitched (278 ⅓) and earned run average
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 (1.65—to this day, a franchise record) and was third in the A.L. in strikeouts. He pitched 11 shutouts that season, winning five of those by a 1–0 score. At the time, only one Cy Young Award was given in all of MLB; since 1967, separate awards have been given in the AL and the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

. Chance's Cy Young Award was the third in a string of five consecutive Cy Young Awards won by a pitcher from a Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 team. The others were won by Dodger
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

 pitchers: Don Drysdale
Don Drysdale
Donald Scott "Don" Drysdale was a Major League Baseball player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career...

 in and Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax
Sanford "Sandy" Koufax is a former left-handed baseball pitcher who played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers...

 in , and .

Baseball career

Chance attended West Salem
West Salem, Ohio
West Salem is a village in Wayne County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,501 at the 2000 census. West Salem is served by a branch of the Wayne County Public Library...

's Northwestern High School
Northwestern High School (West Salem, Ohio)
Northwestern High School is a public high school in West Salem, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Northwestern Local Schools district. Their nickname is the Huskies.-Athletics:* 2008 Girls Volleyball Team District ChampionsTeam members include:...

 and starred on the baseball team and baseketball teams (leading the team to a 1958 state title), but it would be baseball where Chance would shine. During his career, he set several state records which still stand including a 52–1 career record, 20 wins in a season, 32 straight wins, eight no-hitters in a season (in both his junior and senior years), and 17 no-hitters total. He also lead the Huskies to the Class A state semifinals in 1958 and a championship in 1959 (and pitching every inning of every postseason tournament game). Following high school,

Chance signed with the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 (for a $30,000 bonus and $12 Greyhound bus ticket) prior to the start of the 1959 season as an amateur free agent. After signing, he was assigned to the Bluefield Orioles
Bluefield Orioles
The Bluefield Blue Jays are a minor league baseball team of the Rookie Appalachian League representing the twin cities of Bluefield, West Virginia, and Bluefield, Virginia. Beginning in 2011, Bluefield will be affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The team plays their home games at Bowen Field, a...

 in the class-D Appalachian League
Appalachian League
The Appalachian League is a Rookie-class minor league that began play in 1937 with one year of inactivity in 1956. From 1937 to 1962, it was a Class D League. Teams are located in the Appalachian regions of Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee...

 where he went 10–3 with a 2.94 ERA. In 1960, he went 12–9 for Fox Cities Foxes in class-B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League
Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League
The Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League was a minor league baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 years, mostly in those three states. It was popularly known as the Three-I League and also sometimes jokingly as the Three-Eye League....

. On December 14, 1960, Chance was drafted by the Washington Senators as the 48th pick in the 1960 AL expansion draft
1960 MLB expansion draft
The 1960 MLB Expansion Draft was held by Major League Baseball on December 14, 1960 to fill the rosters of the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators...

. Immediately following the draft, Chance was traded by the Senators to the Los Angeles Angels for outfielder Joe Hicks
Joe Hicks (baseball)
William Joseph Hicks is a retired American professional baseball player. He played in the outfield for the Chicago White Sox during the 1960 season, for the Washington Senators in 1961-62, and for the New York Mets during the 1963 season.-External links:...

. He pitched most of 1961 for the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers, going 9–12, before making his major league debut on September 11, 1961, at the age of 20. Chance would finish the season 0–2 with a 6.87 ERA in five games, but was in the majors to stay.

Chance had an outstanding rookie campaign in 1962, winning 14 games with an ERA of 2.96 and finishing tied for third in AL Rookie of the Year voting with Bernie Allen
Bernie Allen
Bernard Keith "Bernie" Allen was a Major League Baseball player for the Minnesota Twins, Washington Senators, New York Yankees, and Montreal Expos. At 6' 0" and 185 lbs, Allen was a second-baseman for most of his career...

 and Dick Radatz
Dick Radatz
Richard Raymond Radatz , nicknamed "The Monster" or "Moose", was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who had a scorching but short-lived period of dominance for the Boston Red Sox . Radatz also played for the Cleveland Indians , Chicago Cubs , Detroit Tigers and...

 (behind fellow Angel Buck Rodgers
Buck Rodgers
Robert LeRoy "Buck" Rodgers is a former catcher, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. As a manager, he helmed three major league teams: the Milwaukee Brewers , Montreal Expos and California Angels , compiling a career won-lost mark of 784–773 .-Playing career:Rodgers attended Ohio Wesleyan...

 and winner Tom Tresh
Tom Tresh
Thomas Michael Tresh was a Major League Baseball infielder and outfielder who played for the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers . Tresh was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed...

). The 1962 campaign would be notable for the Angels as Chance and fellow phenom Bo Belinsky
Bo Belinsky
Robert "Bo" Belinsky was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, who became an instant southern California celebrity as a rookie with the original Los Angeles Angels, especially when the fourth of his season-opening four straight wins was a no-hit, no-run game against his former...

 would team on both the mound and in the Hollywood social circles, much to the enjoyment of the Los Angeles beat writers and the consternation of manager Bill Rigney
Bill Rigney
William Joseph Rigney was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. A native of Alameda, California, he batted and threw right-handed....

 and the rest of the Angels' front office. Although he would lose 18 games in 1963, he would finish with a 3.19 ERA in 248 innings. The pair were inseparable and often roomed together, some saying so that the Angels' would only have to mind one bad room – at least when they were in their room after curfew (which wasn't often). After his 1964 season in which he won the Cy Young award and was elected to his first all-star game
All-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...

, Chance would go 15–10 in 1965 and 12–17 record in 1966, despite a respectable ERA of 3.08. After the 1966 season, the Angels, a weak hitting team desperate for power and looking to shed one of their problem children, shipped Chance and infielder Jackie Hernandez
Jackie Hernandez
Jacinto Hernández Zulueta is a former Major League Baseball shortstop and third baseman from 1965 to 1973....

 to the Minnesota Twins on December 2 in a trade that netted them outfielder
Outfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...

 Jimmie Hall
Jimmie Hall
Jimmie Randolph Hall is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and left-handed batter who played for the Minnesota Twins , California Angels , Cleveland Indians , New York Yankees , Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves .-Minor league career:After attending Belmont High School and playing...

, slugging first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

 Don Mincher
Don Mincher
-External links:***...

, and relief pitcher Pete Cimino
Pete Cimino
Peter William Cimino is a retired professional baseball player who played four seasons for the Minnesota Twins and California Angels of Major League Baseball. He once scored 114 points in a high school basketball game and also had 20 strikeouts in one minor league baseball game...

.

Chance responded by winning 20 games for the Twins in , leading the AL in games started (39), complete games (18) and innings pitched (283 ⅔). On August 6 of that year, he pitched a rain-shortened, five-inning perfect game
Perfect game
A perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any...

 against the Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

 at Metropolitan Stadium
Metropolitan Stadium
Metropolitan Stadium was a sports stadium that once stood in Bloomington, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis. The area where the stadium once stood is now the site of the Mall of America...

 in Bloomington, Minnesota. He also pitched a 2–1 no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...

 against the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 on August 25 with the Indians scoring their sole run in the first inning on two walks, an error, and a wild pitch
Wild pitch
In baseball, a wild pitch is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, perhaps even the batter-runner on strike three or ball four, to advance.A wild pitch usually...

. The game was called after five innings due to rain and Chance later said that umpire Ed Runge
Ed Runge
Edward Paul Runge was a baseball umpire. He was born in Buffalo, New York and lived in Buffalo, San Diego, California, and St. Catharines, Ontario during his childhood....

's wide strike zone had a lot to do with him keeping the Indians off the basepaths. The Twins nearly won the 1967 pennant, but Chance was outdueled in the season's final game, at Fenway Park
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...

, by Boston's Jim Lonborg
Jim Lonborg
James Reynold Lonborg is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played with the Boston Red Sox , Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies...

, chasing Chance in with 5 runs in the sixth despite getting only one ball out of the infield, and the Red Sox emerged as surprise league champions — with Lonborg winning the 1967 AL Cy Young trophy in the process. The trade helped both teams and Chance as the Angels rose to fifth place with an 84–77 record in 1967, the Twins were in it until the season's final game, and Chance was voted to his second all-star team and won the Sporting News AL Comeback Player of the Year award.

The 1968 campaign saw Chance put up a lackluster 16–16 record (echoing the Twins' 79–83 finish), but saw him notch career lows in hits and walks per 9 innings (6.9 & 1.9 respectively), and career highs in innings (292), strikeouts (234), and strikeouts per 9 innings (7.9). Due to his strong numbers, Chance had more than a decent chance at again winning 20 games, but the Twins offense let him down in 1968, scoring two or less runs in 17 of his 22 starts (games in which Chance himself posted an ERA of 2.55). In the games in which the Twins scored at least three runs, Chance posted a 13–4 record. Despite his strong season, owner Calvin Griffith
Calvin Griffith
Calvin Robertson Griffith , born Calvin Robertson in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was a Major League Baseball team owner...

, well-known for being "thrifty", tried to cut Chance's salary by $9,000. Chance held out prior to the 1969 season and was successful in having his salary cut by "only" $5,000. However, 1968 would be his last big year and Chance's career would rapidly decline. From 1969–1971, he would win a total of only 18 games. In 1969, Chance would be plaugued by a back injury caused by rushing to get into shape following his holdout and only pitched 88 ⅓ innings. On December 10, 1969, the Twins would ship Chance, third baseman, and future New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 star, Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles
Graig Nettles , nicknamed "Puff", is a former Major League Baseball third baseman. During a 22-year baseball career, he played for the Minnesota Twins , Cleveland Indians , New York Yankees , San Diego Padres , Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos .Nettles was one of the best...

, infielder Ted Uhlaender
Ted Uhlaender
Theodore Otto Uhlaender was a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds from –. He was also the father of Olympic women's skeleton competitor Katie Uhlaender.Signed by the Twins out of Baylor University in 1961, he made his major league...

, and pitcher Bob Miller
Bob Miller (1957-1974 pitcher)
Robert Lane "Bob" Miller was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. Miller was never a star pitcher, but his ability to fill in as a starting pitcher or relief pitcher, as needed, allowed him to have a career that spanned 18 years in Major League Baseball...

 to the Cleveland Indians for relief pitcher Stan Williams
Stan Williams (baseball)
Stanley Wilson Williams , nicknamed "Big Daddy" and "The Big Hurt", is a former Major League Baseball starting and relief pitcher who threw and batted right-handed. He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Yankees , Cleveland Indians , Minnesota Twins , St...

 and future Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

 star Luis Tiant
Luis Tiant
Luis Clemente Tiant Vega , born November 23, 1940 in Marianao, Cuba, , is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians , Minnesota Twins , Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees , Pittsburgh Pirates and California Angels...

. The trade would end up being a disaster for the Twins as Nettles would immediately blossom and hit 26 homeruns for the 1970 Indians and Tiant, the key to trade, would be released after only one injury-plagued season.

Chance would split the 1970 season between the Indians, for whom he'd pitch a 9–8 record with a 4.28, and the New York Mets (after being purchased from the Indians on September 18). Chance would be traded again on March 30, 1971, this time to the Detroit Tigers along with reliever Bill Denehy
Bill Denehy (baseball)
William Francis Denehy is a retired American professional baseball pitcher and coach. Denehy threw and batted right-handed, stood tall, and weighed ....

 for minor league pitcher Jerry Robertson
Jerry Robertson (baseball)
Jerry Lee Robertson was a Major League Baseball pitcher. Born in Winchester, Kansas, the right-hander was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 27th round of the 1965 amateur draft, and later drafted by the Montreal Expos from the Cardinals as the 38th pick in the 1968 expansion draft...

. Used largely out of the bullpen, Chance would finish his career with a 4–6 record in 31 games.

His career record over 11 seasons (1961–71) and 406 games pitched was 128 wins, 115 losses and an ERA of 2.92. He was a notoriously weak batsman in the days prior to the designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...

, garnering only 44 hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

 in 662 at bat
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...

s, for a batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 of .066. He struck out 420 times in those 662 at bats.

Retirement

Chance retired to a 300 acre ranch 3 miles from his boyhood farm and shares his home with his mother, Florence. During the 1970s and 1980s, Chance acted as a midway barker
Barker (occupation)
A barker is a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events, such as a circus or funfair, by exhorting passing public, describing attractions of show and emphasizing variety, novelty, beauty, or some other feature believed to incite listeners to attend entertainment...

 and operated games of skill at carnivals and fairs and was one of the most successful operators, eventually employing 250 people and running 40 games at the Ohio State Fair
Ohio State Fair
The Ohio State Fair is one of the largest state fairs in the United States. In 2011 the attendance was 833,000, the fair's highest attendance since 2004. The state fair contributes as much as 280 million dollars to the state economy...

 along, on a circuit that includes Columbus, OH, Raleigh, NC, Augusta, GA, Syracuse, NY, Hollywood, FL, and Corpus Christi, TX before tiring of the constant travels and con men who frequented this business. Chance founded the International Boxing Association during the 1990s, has managed many fighters, and was its long-time president.

As part of the Angel's 50th anniversary, Chance threw out the first pitch before the June 4, 2011 game versus the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

. The pitch was high and outside.

Chance has one child, son Brett, who graduated from Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

 in 1985 and majored in marketing and sports administration with the goal of being a major league executive.

See also


External links

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