This past week, I was reading an article from 13 months ago in BaseballLibrary.com. Sam Person, of Bonita Springs, FL, wrote about how he had conducted a search for 1964 Cy Young Award winner Dean Chance.
It was a fun piece, full of intrigue and interesting twists, but it was much ado about nothing. I am a player agent/boxing matchmaker, and I have known Dean since 1970. I speak to Dean almost every day. In fact, we visited the grave of former teammate and best friend Bo Belinsky here in Las Vegas just last week.
Several things about Sam's story caught my eye immediately. First, although Dean is quite the card player, he confines his activities to gin rummy and never plays bridge. Second, he does not have a wife (he got divorced in 1969, I believe it was) because his lifestyle as a playboy was not consistent with marital vows. And third, Dean is quite clueless about how to use the internet.
I hooked up his computer so that he could read about baseball and boxing, which is now his business as president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), and I bookmarked certain sites for easy readability, but Dean still struggles with his computer.
I don't know whom the mystery bridge player was that Sam Person "talked" to on the chat line. But the real ex-ballplayer still lives in the same house in which he grew up in Ohio, along with his 79-year-old mother. Dean is on the road quite often, due to his boxing activities, but is listed under the IBA.
Mrs. Chance is a wonderful woman, and cares very much for her son, and is very proud of Dean's accomplishments. To this day, Mrs. Chance helps supervise the operations of their three farms in Wayne County, Ohio.
I think it was just a super fan with a quick wit and nimble mind who had fun with Sam Person. I don't play bridge, either, but I'm told that an agile brain is very helpful in that game. As far as that goes, the real Dean Chance is an exceptional gin player, with a remarkable photograpic memory and great recall. He often frequents country clubs to get a game.
The giveaways to Sam's fake Dean Chance were the internet, the wife, and the game of bridge. At age 61, Dean has nothing to do with any of the above. But it was a good story about an outstanding pitcher.
Dean didn't have a great career, mainly due to arm injuries and poor offensive support, but he did have some great years that would have earned him about $8-10 million a year in today's market.
» Bruce Trampler is the matchmaker for boxing promoter Bob Arum's Top Rank, Inc., Las Vegas, NV. He also represents a dozen professional players.
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Copyright © 2003 by Bruce Trampler. Posted January 24, 2003.
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