Dean Chance will be forever linked with Bo Belinsky. Although this latter-day Butch and Sundance make for nostalgic and entertaining conversation, it overshadows Chance’s place among baseball’s elite pitchers in the mid-1960s. Teammates and opponents alike agree that Chance was one of the most intimidating and overpowering pitchers in baseball. Facing the big right-hander in the batter’s box was the baseball equivalent of receiving a root canal.

In 1964 alone, Chance put together one the most incredible seasons in recent history. More than four decades later, the numbers are still astounding. In a league-best 278 1/3 innings, he allowed just 194 hits while striking out 207 batters. More impressive was his minuscule, Major League-leading 1.65 ERA, which was nine-tenths of a point better than Sandy Koufax’s mark the same year. In posting 20 wins, Chance tossed 15 complete games and 11 shutouts. Incredibly, he gave up only seven home runs the entire season, an average of one every 40 innings. Perhaps even more remarkable was his impeccable record against the defending World Champion New York Yankees

“I pitched 50 innings against the Yankees and gave uo14 hits, 13 of which were singles.” Chance recalls, The one home run they hit that year was a shot by Mickey Mantle who r hit the top of the fence in Chavez Ravine. If it wasn’t for that, they wouldn’t have scored anything, all year.”

Phil Pepe of the New York World Telegram and Sun, summed up Dean’s domination best when he wrote, “It’s Chance, not CBS, who owns the Yankees. Lock, stock and barrel.” Albie Pearson, who played behind Chance in centerfield, never saw anything quite like it: “When Dean pitched, the Yankees became a bunch of guys in pantyhose. … They had no chance.”

 “It wasn’t enough to just be loose [against the Yankees]. You had to psyche up,” Chance recalls. “Shoot, they were the Yankees! You could never let up against those guys. Maris never got a home run off me and I didn’t have any trouble with Mantle. I just tried to overpower him.”

“‘Amazing,’ is how I’d describe him,” says Bob Rodgers of his battery mate, Chance. “I never saw a pitcher so overpowering. The greatest hitters in baseball—Killebrew, Maris, and Mantle—would just shake their heads in disbelief. Some were visibly scared—he was that overpowering.”

First baseman Lee Thomas agreed. “I know Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax had some great years, but that one season was probably as good as anybody ever had.”
 
For Chance, the ’64 season began inauspiciously. A blister on the right index finger of his throwing hand limited him to bullpen duty. By the All-Star break, he had only five wins and 4 saves. But his first half wasn’t without it’s thrilling moments, such as his 14-innings of shutout ball on June 6 against the Yankees. Chance considers that marathon the greatest game he ever pitched. It impressed Yankee manger Ralph Houk enough to have Chance start on the mound in that year’s All-Star game at Shea Stadium.

With the painful blister fully healed, Chance went on a tear in the second half of the season, winning 15 of his last 20 games and posting eight shutouts. His 20th win on Sept. 25 was his sixth 1-0 decision of the season, tying him with three others, for the most 1-0 wins in one season. His 20 victories represented nearly a quarter of all the Angels 82 wins that season. And at age 23, Chance became the youngest pitcher ever to win the prestigious Cy Young Award.

Chance says that a number of things fell together for him in ’64, and that his teammates deserve equal credit for his numbers. “I got the breaks, every good thing that could happen, happened for me,” recalls Chance. “Instead of getting beat 1-0, I would get the win 1-0. Instead of going through for a hit, a ball would go for a double play. Bobby Knoop had a tremendous year behind me at second, and made a lot of great plays.”

Chance also credits cavernous Chavez Ravine with its high mound and cool night air for keeping the ball in the park. “I only gave up seven home runs that year. That’s the biggest feat I think.”

Chance remained an Angels until 1966, when the club, in quest of some badly needed offense, traded him to the Twins for Jimmie Hall, Don Mincher and Pete Cimino. The trade would came back to haunt the Halos as he went on to win 20 games in 1967, started the All Star game, striking out both Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente in the first inning and firing a no hitter.

For his cumulative effort with the Twins and Angels, Chance was awarded the American Leagues, Right Handed Pitcher of the Decade of the 1960’s, by the Sporting News.

Chance, who is President of the International Boxing Association, still resides on his working farm in Wooster, Ohio where he was born and raised.
           
For more on Dean Chance and other early Angels, visit:  http://oncetheywereangels.net

© Robert Goldman 2006, 2010