With a touch of wildness and the habit of never looking at home plate once he received the sign from his catcher, Chance would turn his back fully towards the hitter in mid-windup before spinning and unleashing a good fastball, sinker or sidearm curveball.

He also led the Huskies to the Class A state semifinals in 1958 and a championship in 1959 (and pitching every inning of every postseason tournament game).

[5] Following high school, Chance signed with the Baltimore Orioles (for a $30,000 bonus and $12 Greyhound bus ticket) prior to the start of the 1959 season as an amateur free agent.

[3] After his 1964 season in which he won the Cy Young Award and was elected to his first All-Star Game, Chance went 15–10 in 1965 and 12–17 in 1966, despite a respectable ERA of 3.08.

[1] After the 1966 season, the Angels, a weak hitting team desperate for power and looking to shed one of their problem children, shipped Chance and infielder Jackie Hernández to the Minnesota Twins on December 2 in a trade that netted them outfielder Jimmie Hall, slugging first baseman Don Mincher, and relief pitcher Pete Cimino.

[1] On August 6 of that year, he pitched a rain-shortened, five-inning perfect game against the Red Sox at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota.

[11] The Twins nearly won the 1967 pennant, but Chance was outdueled in the season's final game, at Fenway Park, by Boston's Jim Lonborg, chasing Chance in with 5 runs in the sixth despite getting only one ball out of the infield,[12] and the Red Sox emerged as surprise league champions — with Lonborg winning the 1967 AL Cy Young trophy in the process.

On December 10, 1969, the Twins shipped Chance, third baseman (and future New York Yankees star) Graig Nettles, infielder Ted Uhlaender, and pitcher Bob Miller to the Cleveland Indians for relief pitcher Stan Williams and future Boston Red Sox star Luis Tiant.

Chance was traded again on March 30, 1971, this time to the Detroit Tigers along with reliever Bill Denehy for minor league pitcher Jerry Robertson.

Chance's batting average is the lowest ever recorded by any major league player with at least 300 plate appearances; he also struck out 420 times in his 662 at-bats.

[16] Chance retired to a 300-acre ranch 3 miles (4.8 km) from his boyhood farm[5] During the 1970s and 1980s Chance acted as a midway barker and operated games of skill at carnivals and fairs and was one of the most successful operators, eventually employing 250 people and running 40 games at the Ohio State Fair alone, on a circuit that includes Columbus, Ohio, Raleigh, North Carolina, Augusta, Georgia, Syracuse, New York, Hollywood, Florida, and Corpus Christi, Texas[17] before tiring of the constant travels and con men who frequented this business.