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.”

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Robert Goldman - LA Angels Insider.com