Bob Chance

From BR Bullpen

Robert Chance

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 2", Weight 219 lb.

Debut September 4, 1963
Final Game April 20, 1969
Born September 10, 1940 in Statesboro, GA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Father of Tony Chance, Bob Chance played six seasons in the majors. He was the regular first baseman on the 1964 Cleveland Indians.

While Chance played mostly first base, he broke in as a right fielder in 1963 and also played a lot of right field in 1964. Fred Whitfield appeared in almost as many innings in 1964 at first base as did Chance.

In his debut in 1963 at age 22, Chance had impressed with a .288 batting average and .481 slugging percentage in 16 games. The following year, his only season as a regular, he hit .279 with 14 home runs.

After 1964 he was traded to the Washington Senators, where he was one of three players who each had at least 400 innings at first base in 1965. The other two were Dick Nen and Joe Cunningham. His manager in 1965-67 was the former first baseman Gil Hodges.

Chance had played in Puerto Rico in the winter after 1961, and won the Triple Crown while with Charleston of the Eastern League in 1963. It had been 38 years since Joe Munson had won the first Triple Crown in the EL but it would only be 2 years until George Scott became the third. He also played for Hawaii in the mid-1960's. In Japan, Chance played for Yakult.

A couple sources say that Chance had a problem with gaining weight that hurt his career.