Our blog post today, my selection for the
Right-handed American League pitcher of the 1960's, and I went with Cy
Young Award winner Dean Chance:
First off, my kingdom for a nice portrait photo of the ace pitcher during his time pitching for the Los Angeles Angels!
I just could not find such a photo for this card, and hope to before I come to printing this set up later this year.
Anyway, I went with Dean Chance based on his two 20-win seasons, his sick
1964 Cy Young winning year, 11 shutouts in 1964, and five sub-3.00
E.R.A. campaigns by the time the '60's were in everyone's rear-view
mirrors.
In 1962, his first full-year in the Majors, he finished third for Rookie of the Year, going 14-10 with a 2.96 E.R.A.
Throughout the rest of the decade it was more of the same, as he posted solid numbers year in and year out.
But it was his 1964 season that was far and away his best year in
the Majors, as he finished with a 20-9 record with a sparkling 1.65
earned run average, 11 shutouts and 207 strikeouts, leading to a Cy
Young win and a fifth-place finish in M.V.P. voting
for the Los Angeles Angels.
He'd post another 20-win season in 1967, now as a member of the
Minnesota Twins, going 20-14 with a 2.73 E.R.A., five shutouts and 220
strikeouts, and followed up in 1968 with a career high of 234 K's along
with a 2.53 E.R.A., six shutouts and a mediocre
16-16 record.
Sadly for Chance this would be his last full season in the Majors, even though he was still only 27 years old.
1969 would see Chance make only 15 starts, going 5-4 with a 2.95
E.R.A. and 50 K's in only 88.1 innings before scraping together two more
years playing for the Indians, Mets and Tigers.
He would be out of baseball for good by 1972, only 30 years old,
but his solid seven years between 1962-1968 still makes him my pick as
the righty pitcher on my A.L. All-Decade team for my 1970 sub-set.
