Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993 TAG: 9302150266
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
TAKING HIS SWINGS FOR A CHANCE AT THE BIG LEAGUES
The 20 boys who got Tony Chance's baseball clinic message Saturday heard about more than arm strength and bat speed.Just as he advised the kids, Chance wasn't throwing any curveballs during his impressive, hands-on presentation. They also would do well to follow his examples of self-esteem and stick-to-it-iveness.
When Chance left Salem at the end of the 1987 season, having led the Buccaneers to their last Carolina League pennant, his career seemed headed to the major leagues.
Since then, the outfielder has been just about everywhere else.
That includes the new Somma's Indoor Batting Cage at West Salem Plaza, where Chance has been working the past couple of weeks. He is being paid to hit and to show others how to face Iron Mike and prove that man can beat machine.
That's what he was doing Saturday and will do again next weekend before he heads to spring training in Mesa, Ariz. Chance figures to start his second season in the Chicago Cubs' organization at Class AAA Iowa.
"The only thing I need now is an opportunity to play in the majors," Chance said. "I think I've proven myself in Triple A."
In '87 for the Buccaneers, Chance batted .318 with 23 home runs, 96 runs batted in and 26 stolen bases. The following year, his frustrations were much higher than his batting average, and he found himself back in Salem after a struggle at Class AA Harrisburg.
In '89, Pittsburgh sent Chance to Mexico City. The Mexican League is often the graveyard for major-league dreams. Chance didn't get the message that his career had gone south.
"The thing about me is, you can't tell me I can't play," Chance said. "You have to show me. I was bound and determined to come back, and I guess part way through the season they saw I wasn't dead."
He was recalled for a week in Harrisburg, then traded to the Baltimore organization, where he finished the Eastern League season strong for Hagerstown. He put up decent numbers for the Orioles' Class AAA Rochester club in '90-91, then signed with the Cubs a year ago.
Last season at Iowa, Chance batted .270 with 11 homers and 53 RBI. He led American Association outfielders in fielding, with only one error. However, he didn't make Chicago's 40-man winter roster.
"I went in with the wrong kind of attitude," Chance said of his '88 dropoff. "When I didn't get off to a tremendous start, I put too much pressure on myself and I was my own worst enemy.
"As I've gotten a little older, I've gotten wiser. I've learned how to keep my composure. The higher I've gone, the more pressure I put on myself, and I can handle that now. I'm a good baseball player. I've had a long career."
Chance doesn't have only pennant-winning memories of his days in Salem. He met his wife, Cindy, when he played here. The couple, with 3-month-old son Xavier, is making their off-season home in the Roanoke Valley.
That doesn't mean Chance is ready to settle down here, however. Although he will begin his 11th pro season in April, the Charleston, W.Va., native is only 28.
"I'm still a kid," he said. "I still have time and I hope someone will look at that and give me a chance. I'm not going to take the uniform off and quit. Someone is going to have to take it out of my locker and tell me I can't play."
Although Chance is the son of former first baseman Bob Chance, who played with Cleveland, Washington and California in the '60s, he said he never has tried to walk in his father's footsteps.
What he has taken from his father are teachings that stretch beyond the baselines.
"If you want respect, don't embarrass a child," Chance said. "It doesn't take the sergeant act. You don't want rebellion. Kids will pay attention if you just talk to them and tell them quietly what they need to know.
"The first time they make a mistake, don't scream at them. Show them the right way. You don't keep pounding a kid over the head. Everyone strikes out now and then."
Chance said his whiff-filled career proves that. The day he signed with the Pirates, he had struck out a couple of times in an all-star game in Charleston. He was soothed when the late scout Joe Consoli told him, "Kid, it's not how you hit the ball, but how you looked striking out."
His clinic group got that message, too.
"The idea is to keep trying, keep swinging," Chance said. "So what if you strike out some? You're going to make contact most of the time. Some of those times, you'll get yours."