On the blog today we add former Cy Young winner Dean Chance to my "missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" sub-set, celebrating the man's incredible 1964 season while with the Los Angeles Angels:
Chance had himself a monster year in 1964 with the Los Angeles
Angels that saw him go 20-9 with a sparkling 1.65 earned run average,
11 shutouts and 207 strikeouts, making him the only pitcher besides a
guy named "Koufax" to win the Cy Young Award
between 1963 and 1966.
Over 46 appearances he made 35 starts, completing 15 and tossing 278.1 innings, while also picking up four saves.
Those numbers were also good enough to give him a fifth=place finish in the MVP race when awards season came around.
For
the Cy Young Award, he got 17 of 20 votes, easily out-distancing Larry
jackson of the Chicago Cubs, who got 2 votes, and Koufax who got one.
In 1967, now as a member of the Minnesota Twins, Chance had another
excellent campaign, posting a 20-14 record with a 2.73 E.R.A., five
shutouts and 220 strikeouts.
By the time he retired, he put together a career 128-115 record
with a 2.92 E.R.A., 33 shutouts and 1534 strikeouts, with two All-Star
game nods and that incredible Cy Young hardware from '64.
