After eight major league seasons, LDS third baseman Vance Law is on his way to Japan. He'll play the 1990 season for the Chunichi Dragons.
Law says he has hopes of returning to the Big Leagues in the future; but even if he doesn't make it back, he's been there long enough to leave his mark.And not only with bat and glove.
Over the years Law's teammates have called him "Vinny," but Vance Law could wear a dozen nicknames: "The Deacon," perhaps, or "Choir Boy."
As a ballplayer in the era of huge egos and salaries, Law's been a throwback. Not to the gas-house gang-busters with their honed cleats and killer instincts, but to an even more endangered breed: The Gentleman Athlete.
"If it's true," he said, "I suppose I owe it to my upbringing. My father (former Pittsburg Pirate, Vernon Law) taught me you meet the same people on your way down that you met on your way up."
Raised in Idaho, Law's always been the rural kid in a pastoral sport. Baseball, the mythology goes, is the American pastime played by All-American boys. The shy kids at the turn of the century were more than a symbol of the game, they were the symbol of American boyhood itself. Today, drugs, money and fame tint the image and few well-scrubbed ballplayers remain.
But Vance Law is one.
"I've tried to attend the Christian services that ballplayers have," he said. "They're non-denominational, but I wanted to show them I'm a Christian. I think it's important to let people know Mormons are Christians."
But if his image has been that of a serious straight-arrow, Law's quick to point out the lighter moments, too.
"I remember the first time I went to bat in Houston," he recalled. "Alan Ashby was the Houston catcher. I didn't know he was LDS. As I came up to the plate he looked at me and said, `Hello there, Elder.' It really broke the ice."
Did it also break Law's concentration?
"Maybe," he laughed. "I mean I don't remember if I got a hit or not."
For a man who enjoys stability, Law bounced around the Majors. He started with the Pirates, played for the ChicagoT White Sox, played in Montreal and was recently with the ChicagoT Cubs. ("The nice thing," he said, "is when I get traded we can always call a bishop in the city where I'm going to help us find a house.")
He'll need to get a few numbers for downtown Tokyo.
And after his two-year stint in Japan, what if it's really time to hang 'em up?
"I don't know," he remarked. "I've been thinking for three or four years I need something to fall back on. I wouldn't mind teaching and coaching. In fact, what I'd really like to do is coach the BYU baseball team."
BYU may have to wait in line while major league teams take a look at Vinny Law as a possibility for the Major Leagues again. This time, perhaps as a manager.