Dazzy Vance Stats & Facts
VINTAGE BASEBALL MEMORABILIA
Dazzy Vance
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right • Throws: Right
6-2, 200lb (188cm, 90kg)
Born: March 4, 1891 in Orient, IA
Died: February 16, 1961 in Homosassa Springs, FL
Buried: Stage Stand Cemetery, Homosassa Springs, FL
High School: Hardy HS (Hardy, NE)
Debut: April 16, 1915 (4,306th in major league history)
vs. CIN 2.2 IP, 3 H, 0 SO, 5 BB, 3 ER, L
Last Game: August 14, 1935
vs. CHC 0.0 IP, 1 H, 0 SO, 0 BB, 0 ER
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1955. (Voted by BBWAA on 205/251 ballots)
View Dazzy Vance’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: Charles Arthur Vance
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject
Nine Players Who Debuted in 1915
Sam Rice
Rogers Hornsby
Joe Judge
George Sisler
Dave Bancroft
Dazzy Vance
Charlie Jamieson
George Kelly
Baby Doll Jacobson
The Dazzy Vance Teammate Team
C: Al Lopez
1B: George Kelly
2B: Frankie Frisch
3B: Frank Baker
SS: Honus Wagner
LF: Babe Herman
CF: Max Carey
RF: Zack Wheat
SP: Burleigh Grimes
SP: Dizzy Dean
SP: Daffy Dean
SP: Bob Shawkey
SP: Babe Adams
RP: Jesse Haines
M: Wilbert Robinson
Notable Events and Chronology for Dazzy Vance Career
Biography
Dazzy Vance Intro
One of the best pitchers in baseball during the 1920s, Dazzy Vance toiled for poor Brooklyn teams much of his career. The right-hander didn’t win his first game in the majors until after his 31st birthday – yet he went on to eight strikeout titles, 197 wins, a no-hitter, and the first National League Most Valuable Player Award.
Biography
The late-blooming Vance was the dominant strikeout pitcher of the 1920s, leading the National League a record seven consecutive times (1922-28). His nickname was fitting; a charter member of the carousing “Daffiness Boys,” he led his Dodger teammates virtually everywhere but to a pennant. Vance was one of the three Dodger runners to wind up on third base at the same time when Babe Herman “tripled” into a double play (it was actually scored a double). Vance, starting from second base, ran much more cautiously than the runners behind him expected, returning to third base after rounding the bag.
A 6’2″ 200-lb fireballer, Vance burned out his arm pitching ten years in the minors. He would break in impressively with one club after another, only to have his arm tire by mid-season. His great starts earned him one game with the Pirates in 1915, and trials with the Yankees in 1915 and 1918. He pitched poorly each time and was returned to the minors. An arm operation, and a manager in New Orleans who allowed him to start on four days’ rest instead of three, proved the cure. Vance went 21-11 in the Southern League in 1921 and was bought by the Dodgers at the insistence of scout Larry Sutton. Owner Charlie Ebbets actually wanted Vance’s New Orleans batterymate, defensive catcher Hank DeBerry, and had to take Vance as part of a package.
Vance, starting every fifth day, won the first of his seven strikeout titles as a 31-year-old rookie in 1922. He often led by wide margins; in 1924, he fanned nearly twice as many as his nearest competitor. His style was unique and fearsome. He would rear back – the ball tiny in his huge, red-flecked hand – kick his leg high, waggle his foot, and catapult the ball toward the intimidated hitter. After living and dying by the fastball for a decade in the minors, he added an outstanding curveball. In a flamboyant touch of distracting showmanship, he wore a red undershirt with the sleeves sliced into twirling ribbons, making his delivery even more disconcerting. The tatters were subsequently outlawed.
In 1924, Vance topped the league with a 2.16 ERA and career highs of 28 wins, 262 strikeouts, and 30 complete games. He had only six losses. The Dodgers fell one win short of the first-place Giants, the closest Vance ever came to a pennant in Brooklyn. He was named NL MVP over Rogers Hornsby, who batted .424.
Vance led the league in wins a second time in 1925, with 22. That September 13, he no-hit Philadelphia 10-1, walking one and striking out nine. The Dodgers committed three errors. He won 22 again in 1928 with a league-best 2.09 ERA, and he earned a final ERA title in 1930 (2.61). After going 12-11 at age forty-one, he was traded to the Cardinals in 1933, where Dazzy joined Dizzy and Daffy Dean. Though sold to the Reds in 1934, Vance was waived back to St. Louis in time to earn a World Series ring. He finished up with Brooklyn as a reliever in 1935.
During his career, Vance tied for the NL lead in shutouts four times, compiling a total of 30. He struck out 2,045 batters and walked only 840. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955 by the BBWAA.
Best Season
Vance won the very first NL MVP Award in 1924, leading the NL with 28 victories, 305 complete games, 262 strikeouts, and a 2.16 ERA. He outpolled Rogers Hornsby, who that year had set a major league record with a .424 batting average, because one voter failed to place Hornsby on the ballot. Vance used the award to negotiate a highly publicized three-year contract worth $47,500 from Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets.
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Best Season, 1924
Vance won the very first NL MVP Award in 1924, leading the NL with 28 victories, 305 complete games, 262 strikeouts, and a 2.16 ERA. He outpolled Rogers Hornsby, who that year had set a major league record with a .424 batting average, because one voter failed to place Hornsby on the ballot. Vance used the award to negotiate a highly publicized three-year contract worth $47,500 from Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets.
Awards and Honors
1924 NL MVP
1924 NL Triple Crown
Factoid
Dazzy Vance won the Triple Crown for pitching in 1924, with 28 wins, a 2.16 ERA, and 262 strikeouts.
Transactions
April, 1915: Purchased by the New York Yankees from the Pittsburgh Pirates; February 1933: Traded by the Brooklyn Dodgers with Gordon Slade to the St. Louis Cardinals for Jake Flowers and Ownie Carroll; June 25, 1934: Selected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Replaced By
A host of pitchers. By the time Vance was through as a starting pitcher (1933), the Dodgers had shiffled Boom-Boom Beck, Ownie Carroll, and Van Lingle Mungo into the rotation.
Largest Weakness as a Player
Timing. Vance was probably ready to be a regular starting pitcher by the time he was 25, but no team would give him a chance. He had to wait until the struggling Dodgers gave him a shot in 1922 before he could pitch regularly. When that happened, he led the NL in strikeouts for seven straight years.
His nickname derived from an often-used childhood phrase, “Ain’t that a daisy.” Vance, however, pronounced the last word “dazzy.”