Dazzy Vance

Charles Arthur "Dazzy" Vance (March 4, 1891 – February 16, 1961) was an American professional baseball player who worked as a pitcher in Major League Baseball over a career that spanned 16 seasons across 21 years. Born in Orient, Iowa, Vance spent most of his childhood in Nebraska, where he played semipro baseball before signing with a minor league team out of Red Cloud, Nebraska, a member of the Nebraska State League, in 1912. He pitched for two other Nebraska State League teams in 1913, with Superior, and in 1914, with the Hastings Giants. Vance made a brief major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1915 and appeared with the New York Yankees that same year, though it took several more years before he established himself at the major league level. He was discovered to have an arm injury in 1916 and was given medical treatment. A late bloomer, Vance pitched his first full season in 1922 at age 31, and, aided by his impressive fastball, became the only pitcher to lead the National League in strikeouts for seven consecutive seasons. Over his career he pitched for five different major league franchises. Vance was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.