Vance Aaron Law (born October 1, 1956) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(1980–81),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

(1982–84),

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

(1985–87),

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

(1988–89), and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

(1991). He also played one season in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) for the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

in 1990. Law batted and threw right-handed. He is the son of

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

winner

Vern Law Vernon Sanders Law (born March 12, 1930) is an American former baseball pitcher who played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played in 1950–51 and 1954–67. He batted and threw right-handed and was li ...

. He served as head baseball coach at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

from 2000 to 2012.

College

Vance Law played college baseball for

. In 1978, he was drafted by the

, the same team his father Vern starred for when Vance was a child. The Pirates drafted Law in the 39th round of that year's draft. The only other player drafted that round that would make it to the majors was Tim Hulett, who would briefly be a teammate of Law's in the mid 80's with the White Sox.

Pro career

Law made his major league debut on June 1, 1980 against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, getting one hit in five at bats. Over the course of the next two seasons, Law split time between the Pirates and their Triple-A team, the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

of the Pacific Coast League. In March 1982, the Pirates traded Law, along with pitcher

Ernie Camacho Ernest Carlos Camacho (born February 1, 1955) is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from 1980 to 1981 and 1983 to 1990. His best season came with the 1984 Cleveland Indians, when he led the team with 23 saves. ...

to the

for pitcher

Ross Baumgarten Ross Baumgarten (born May 27, 1955) is an American former professional baseball player who was a pitcher in Major League Baseball for five seasons in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Baumgarten played for the Chicago White Sox from 1978 to 1981, ...

and

Butch Edge Claude Lee Edge (born July 18, 1956) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball. Career Edge graduated from El Camino High School in Sacramento, California and was featured in '' Faces in the Crowd'' in the June 24, 1974 issue of ''Sports Ill ...

. He spent the next few seasons with the White Sox, becoming their regular second baseman. In 1984, Law hit 17 home runs, the most homers he'd ever hit in one season in the majors. Law would be on the move again, this time traded to the

in exchange for pitcher Bob James. In 1987, the Expos did not renew his contract, which allowed him to become a free agent. He signed with the

later that winter. Law's best season in the Major Leagues was in when he hit .293, with 163

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, and 78

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. He was selected to the 1988 All-Star Game as one of a then-record six Cubs players on the team (

Andre Dawson Andre Nolan Dawson (born July 10, 1954), nicknamed "The Hawk" and "Awesome Dawson", is an American former professional baseball player and inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame. During a 21-year baseball career, he played for four different tea ...

Greg Maddux Gregory Alan Maddux (born April 14, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams. Maddux is best known for his accomplishments while playing for the Atlanta Braves ...

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies (19 ...

Rafael Palmeiro Rafael Palmeiro Corrales (born September 24, 1964) is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball first baseman and left fielder. Palmeiro was an All-American at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1985. H ...

, and

Shawon Dunston Shawon Donnell Dunston (born March 21, 1963) is an American retired professional baseball player. A shortstop, Dunston played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1985 through 2002. Dunston was the first overall pick in the 1982 MLB draft by the ...

were the other five.) Law holds an

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

record for the longest errorless game by a third baseman when he played all 25 innings of the longest game in AL history (May 8 and 9, , against the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

). Law also appeared as a pitcher in 7 games, all as an emergency

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

in games that were already blowout losses. While a position player may occasionally have one or two career pitching appearances, seven such appearances is an extraordinarily high number. Law finished all 7 games he appeared in, and had a career ERA of 3.38 in 8 innings. After being let go by the Cubs, Law signed with the

of the Japan Central League. He'd have one of his finest seasons as a pro, hitting 29 home runs, and batting .313 for the season. Law wasn't the only American on the roster for the Dragons that year. Former Pirates prospect

Benny Distefano Benito James Distefano (born January 23, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros in the 1980s and with Navegantes del Magallanes in the Lig ...

was also on the roster. After his stint in Japan, Law signed with the

Oakland A's The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

and split time between the major league club and their triple-A team the Tacoma Tigers. Vance is the first of only three sons of former Cy Young Award winners to reach the big leagues, the others being

Kyle Drabek Kyle Jordan Drabek (born December 8, 1987) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Drabek is the son of former major-l ...

(son of 1990 NL winner

Doug Drabek Douglas Dean Drabek (born July 25, 1962) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and current Pitching Coach for the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He played for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, ...

), and

Cam Bedrosian Cameron Rock Bedrosian (born October 2, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, and Philadelphia Phil ...

(son of 1987 NL winner

Steve Bedrosian Stephen Wayne Bedrosian (born December 6, 1957) is an American former Major League Baseball player. Nicknamed "Bedrock", he played from 1981 to 1995 with the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, and Minnesota Twins. Bedrosi ...

). Law's son Adam also played baseball, but never made it to the majors.

Coaching career

Law coached at Provo High School after which he became head baseball coach at

in 2000. Following the 2012 season, Law did not have his contract renewed. Law was 397–347–2 as head coach over a 13-year span. In December 2012, the Chicago White Sox announced Law would rejoin the organization as a minor league coach. In December 2019, the Cleveland Indians announced Law would join the organization as a minor league coach.

References

External links

Vance Law
at Baseball Almanac
Vance Law
at Baseball Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Law, Vance 1956 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Japan Baseball coaches from Idaho Baseball players from Idaho BYU Cougars baseball coaches BYU Cougars baseball players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Chunichi Dragons players Gulf Coast Pirates players Latter Day Saints from Idaho Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball outfielders Montreal Expos players National League All-Stars Nippon Professional Baseball second basemen Nippon Professional Baseball third basemen Oakland Athletics players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers players Provo High School alumni Salem Pirates players Sportspeople from Boise, Idaho Tacoma Tigers players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players

College

Pro career

Coaching career

See also

References

External links