Charles Arthur “Dazzy” Vance was born on March 4, 1891 in Orient, Iowa. He was the fifth child of Sarah Elizabeth (Ritchey) and Albert Theophilus Vance, a farmer. The family moved to a farm in Pleasant Hill Township in Webster County, Nebraska, near the Kansas state line, when Vance was still very young. While there, he played semipro baseball, and it is believed he earned the nickname “Dazzy” for the dazzling fastball he demonstrated during this time. He then went on to sign with a minor league baseball team out of Red Cloud, Nebraska, a member of the Nebraska State League, in 1912.
Vance bounced around a couple more minor league teams for the next couple of seasons. In 1914, he had a stretch in which he pitched four games in six days and strained his arm as a result. “Something went wrong with my right arm,” he would say. “I no longer could throw hard, and it hurt like the dickens every time I threw.”
In the spring of 1915 his contract was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He lost his major-league debut on April 16th and was promptly dealt to the New York Yankees. After losing all of his three decisions, the Yankees sent Vance back to the minors.
Vance’s arm injury was confirmed in 1916, and the Yankees ensured that he was given medical treatment. He continued to work on his pitching in the minor leagues, bouncing between a number of teams. Vance reappeared in the major leagues only once for the Yankees, pitching two games in 1918 and earning an abysmal ERA of 15.43 in those appearances. After two more years of traveling through the minors, Vance found himself in New Orleans in 1920, pitching for the Pelicans of the Southern Association.
During his time in New Orleans, Vance played in what would turn out to be a career-changing poker game. According to the story, Vance banged his arm on the edge of the table while raking in a pot and felt an intense pain. When the arm was still hurting the next morning, Vance went to a doctor, who diagnosed an underlying injury that had not been discovered by all the medical professionals who had examined him previously. Surgery was performed, though precisely what surgery remains unknown. Nevertheless, following the operation, Dazzy was able to pitch again painlessly. In 1921 with the Pelicans, he struck out 163 batters and finished the season with a 21–11 record. The Pelicans then sold his contract to the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) in 1922, and this time, Vance was in the majors to stay.
In 1922, Vance produced an 18–12 record with a 3.70 ERA and a league-leading 134 strikeouts. On September 24, 1924, Vance became the sixth pitcher in major league history to pitch an immaculate inning, striking out all three batters on nine total pitches in the third inning of a game against the Cubs. 1924 turned out to be his best individual season, as he led the National League in wins (28), strikeouts (262) and ERA (2.16), earning himself the Triple Crown Award for pitchers and winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award. Vance beat out fellow Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby – who hit .424 that season – for the MVP award.
Vance then pitched a no-hitter on September 13, 1925, against the Philadelphia Phillies, winning 10–1. By the 1930s, however, Vance’s play began to decline, and the Dodgers traded Vance to the St. Louis Cardinals before the start of the 1933 season. He would later play for the Cincinnati Reds before returning to the Dodgers. On September 12, 1934, Vance hit his seventh and final major league home run at 43 years, 6 months, and 8 days, the second oldest pitcher to do so to this day. (The oldest is Jack Quinn in 1930, at the age of 46 years, 10 months and 26 days.)
Vance retired from baseball after the 1935 season. He led the league in ERA three times, wins twice, and established a National League record by leading the league in strikeouts in seven consecutive years (1922–1928). He finished his career with a 197–140 record, 2,045 strikeouts, and a 3.24 ERA.
Dazzy Vance was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. He died of a heart attack in 1961 in Homosassa Springs, Florida.
