Dean Chance
Chance threw the best season by an Angels pitcher that nobody remembers. His 1964 campaign produced a microscopic 1.65 ERA across 278 innings, earning him the Cy Young Award in just the franchise's fourth year of existence. That ERA+ of 217 means he was more than twice as effective as the average pitcher in a year when offense still ruled.
The right-hander's career tells the story of early expansion baseball — brilliant peaks followed by rapid decline. After that Cy Young season, arm troubles limited his effectiveness, though he still managed respectable numbers through the late 1960s. His career 2.92 ERA over 11 seasons represents solid value for teams scrambling to find pitching talent.
Chance exemplified the live-arm lottery that defined expansion-era roster construction. When healthy, few could match his stuff, but durability remained elusive throughout his career.
Career · Hitting
11 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | LAA | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | — |
| 1962 | LAA | 50 | 65 | 0 | 1 | .062 | .164 | — |
| 1963 | LAA | 45 | 80 | 0 | 3 | .150 | .333 | — |
| 1964 | LAA | 46 | 89 | 0 | 0 | .079 | .187 | — |
| 1965 | CAL | 36 | 75 | 0 | 5 | .093 | .257 | — |
| 1966 | CAL | 41 | 76 | 0 | 0 | .026 | .101 | — |
| 1967 | MIN | 41 | 92 | 0 | 0 | .033 | .151 | — |
| 1968 | MIN | 43 | 93 | 0 | 3 | .054 | .147 | — |
| 1969 | MIN | 20 | 24 | 0 | 1 | .042 | .190 | — |
| 1970 | CLE | 48 | 42 | 0 | 3 | .071 | .183 | 26 |
| 1971 | DET | 31 | 21 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| Career | 406 | 662 | 0 | 16 | .066 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
11 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | LAA | 5 | 18.3 | 0 | 2 | 6.87 | 59 | 11 | 2.073 |
| 1962 | LAA | 50 | 206.7 | 14 | 10 | 2.96 | 133 | 127 | 1.263 |
| 1963 | LAA | 45 | 248.0 | 13 | 18 | 3.19 | 108 | 168 | 1.286 |
| 1964 | LAA | 46 | 278.3 | 20 | 9 | 1.65 | 217 | 207 | 1.006 |
| 1965 | CAL | 36 | 225.7 | 15 | 10 | 3.15 | 111 | 164 | 1.321 |
| 1966 | CAL | 41 | 259.7 | 12 | 17 | 3.08 | 114 | 180 | 1.232 |
| 1967 | MIN | 41 | 283.7 | 20 | 14 | 2.73 | 121 | 220 | 1.100 |
| 1968 | MIN | 43 | 292.0 | 16 | 16 | 2.53 | 118 | 234 | 0.983 |
| 1969 | MIN | 20 | 88.3 | 5 | 4 | 2.95 | 122 | 50 | 1.257 |
| 1970 | CLE | 48 | 157.0 | 9 | 9 | 4.36 | 89 | 109 | 1.503 |
| 1971 | DET | 31 | 89.7 | 4 | 6 | 3.51 | 99 | 64 | 1.572 |
| Career | 406 | 2147.4 | 128 | 115 | — | — | 1534 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.