# Vance Dinges

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**Vance George Dinges** (May 29, 1915 – October 4, 1990) was an American professional [baseball](/source/Baseball) player. He appeared in 159 [Major League](/source/Major_League_Baseball) [games](/source/Games_played) as a [first baseman](/source/First_baseman) and [outfielder](/source/Outfielder) for the [1945](/source/1945_Philadelphia_Phillies_season) and [1946](/source/1946_Philadelphia_Phillies_season) [Philadelphia Phillies](/source/Philadelphia_Phillies). The native of [Elizabeth, New Jersey](/source/Elizabeth,_New_Jersey), threw and batted left-handed; he stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).

Dinges' professional career lasted eleven seasons, 1938 through 1948. He was acquired by the Phillies from the [Boston Red Sox](/source/Boston_Red_Sox) in the 1944 [Rule 5 draft](/source/Rule_5_draft); Phils' [general manager](/source/General_manager_(baseball)) [Herb Pennock](/source/Herb_Pennock) had previously been the head of the Red Sox' [farm system](/source/Farm_system). He made his MLB debut on [April 17, 1945](/source/1945_in_baseball), and [singled](/source/Single_(baseball)) in his first [at bat](/source/At_bat) off [Curt Davis](/source/Curt_Davis) of the [Brooklyn Dodgers](/source/Brooklyn_Dodgers).[1] He served as a backup outfielder and first baseman that seasons, appearing in 109 games and [batting](/source/Batting_average_(baseball)) .287. He also hit his first MLB [home run](/source/Home_run) that April 24, a solo blast off the [New York Giants](/source/New_York_Giants_(NL))' [Andy Hansen](/source/Andy_Hansen).[2] Dinges was named a member of the 1945 [National League](/source/National_League_(baseball)) [All-Star](/source/1945_Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game) squad by [The Sporting News](/source/The_Sporting_News). But no midsummer classic was played that season and no official All-Star teams were officially chosen by the two leagues because of [wartime](/source/World_War_II) travel restrictions

Dinges then split between the Phils and their [Utica Blue Sox](/source/Utica_Blue_Sox) [Eastern League](/source/Eastern_League_(1938%E2%80%932020)) affiliate. He backed up [right-handed](/source/Right-handed)-hitting first baseman [Frank McCormick](/source/Frank_McCormick) in 26 games and batted .308, slugging his second big-league homer as a [pinch hitter](/source/Pinch_hitter) off [Ed Bahr](/source/Ed_Bahr) of the [Pittsburgh Pirates](/source/Pittsburgh_Pirates) on July 12.[3]

In 553 [plate appearances](/source/Plate_appearances) and 501 at bats, Dinges collected 146 Major League [hits](/source/Hit_(baseball)) and posted a batting average of .291.

## References

1. [1945-4-17 box score](http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1945/B04170BRO1945.htm) from [Retrosheet](/source/Retrosheet)

1. [1945-4-24 box score](http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1945/B04240NY11945.htm) from [Retrosheet](/source/Retrosheet)

1. [1946-7-12 box score](http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1946/B07120PIT1946.htm) from [Retrosheet](/source/Retrosheet)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Vance Dinges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vance_Dinges) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vance_Dinges?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.