Dean Chance
| Dean Chance | |||
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| Pitcher | |||
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Born: June 1, 1941 Wooster, Ohio |
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Died: October 11, 2015 (aged 74) Wooster, Ohio |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 11, 1961, for the Los Angeles Angels | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 9, 1971, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Win–loss record | 128–115 | ||
| Earned run average | 2.92 | ||
| Strikeouts | 1,534 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Wilmer Dean Chance (June 1, 1941 – October 11, 2015) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher. During his 11-year major league career, he played for the Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, and Detroit Tigers. 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 1964, Chance became at the time the youngest pitcher to win the Cy Young Award when, as a member of the Los Angeles Angels, he led the American League in wins (20), innings pitched (278 1⁄3) and earned run average (1.65—as of 2015, a franchise record) and was third in the A.L. in strikeouts. He pitched 11 shutouts (also a franchise record as of 2015) 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. 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-based team. The others were won by Dodger pitchers: Don Drysdale in 1962 and Sandy Koufax in 1963, 1965, and 1966.
Chance attended West Salem's Northwestern High School (Ohio) and starred on the baseball team and basketball teams (leading the team to a 1958 state title), but baseball is where Chance would shine. During his high school years, 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 led the Huskies to the Class A state semifinals in 1958 and a championship in 1959 (and pitching every inning of every postseason tournament game).
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