First National League MVP – Dazzy Vance
On February 12, 1924 — The National League announced it would join the AL in awarding a thousand dollars to the player selected by writers as the league’s Most Valuable Player.
Dazzy Vance outpolled Rogers Hornsby, who set a major league record with a .424 batting average that year because one voter failed to place Hornsby on the ballot to win the first NL MVP award. Vance also had competition from his teammate, Zach Wheat (4th overall). You can see the voting here.
Vance led the NL with 28 victories, 305 complete games, 262 strikeouts, and a 2.16 ERA, winning the pitching triple crown.
On August 23, 1924, he set the then-National League record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game when he fanned 15 Chicago Cubs.
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. He finished the season with 262 strikeouts, more than any two National League pitchers combined (Burleigh Grimes with 135 and Dolf Luque with 86 were second and third respectively). That season, Vance had one out of every 13 strikeouts in the entire National League.
Vance used the award to negotiate a highly publicized three-year contract worth $47,500 from Brooklyn owner Charles Ebbets. He will pitch a no hitter on September 17, 1925 vs the Chicago Cubs.
He was a true story of perseverance. The right-hander pitched only 33 innings in his twenties and didn’t win his first game in the majors until after his 31st birthday. Once he got started, he was a star. He led the league in ERA three times, won twice, and established a National League record by leading the league in strikeouts in seven consecutive years (1922–1928). Vance retired with a 197–140 record, 2,045 strikeouts, and a 3.24 ERA.
Vance spent his career mostly toiling for poor Brooklyn teams much of his career. At 41, he was traded to the St Louis Cardinals in February 1933. He was released a year later, but the St Louis Cardinals reacquired Vance on June 25, 1934. Then, on September 12, 1934, Vance hit his seventh and final major league home run at 43 years and 6 months; he was the second oldest pitcher to do so. He appeared in game 4 of the 1934 World Series for the Gashouse Gang and picking up his only World Series title.
Vance was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. He learned of his election when a highway patrolman got his attention on a local highway and told him that a photographer was at his house. A Dazzy Vance Day celebration was held in Brooklyn.
Listen to Don Drysdale tell his story on the podcast and check out the game of the day, game four of the 1934 World Series featuring Dazzy.
The Dazzy Vance All Time 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
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