On April 8, 1963, the Detroit Tigers claimed on waivers little-known pitcher Denny McLain away from the Chicago White Sox. During the minor league draft the White Sox decided to instead protect Hall of Famer (not baseball) and current Top 30 all-time Piston Dave Debusschere. Oops, the South-Siders made a mistake there. After a less than fulfilling 1963 and 1964 (121 innings pitched and 6 wins) seasons with the Tigers, McLain went on to a stellar 6 year run as the Bengals ace.
McLain would go on to win 108 games in the 6 year span all culminated by the 1968 run to the World Series Championship. In the championship campaign of 1968, McLain would put together one of the greatest seasons ever by a pitcher. Along with wining the AL-MVP and AL-Cy Young, he posted a record of 31-6 (the last pitcher to win 30 games). He also posted a 1.96 ERA in 336 innings pitched. Remember, we now rave over a pitcher that is able to pitch a 200 inning season. He also had 28 complete games and 6 shutouts, two stats that would be great career numbers for today's great pitchers.
Here's to the great season of 1968.
Update - Arrested again
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2 comments:
Christian:
Denny McLain is a name that evokes mixed emotions and opinions from Tiger fans of my era, and I have strong opinions about him. Your post stirred my thoughts that I'd like to share.
McLain had that unbelievable year in 1968, and was the toast of the town. And 1968 was a magical year for the Tiger faithful, as the long championship drought ended.
But McLain soon fell out of favor with his teammates and the Tiger fans. From all reports he was an extremely self-centered and dishonest individual. One may recall that this was a Tiger team that valued team play and the athlete of the 1960’s era avoided self-aggrandizement. But McLain promoted himself and believed there were team rules for others and a more liberal set of rules for Denny McLain. He was suspended for gambling, mistreating sports reporters and for carrying a gun on a team flight.
Due to his suspensions and rumored mob associations, the Tigers unloaded McLain in 1970 to Washington for Eddie Brinkman, Aurelio Rodriguez and Joe Coleman. All three ex-Senators became regulars in the Tiger lineup while McLain lasted two more years with a 14-29 record.
McLain served many years in prison for various convictions including embezzlement, fraud and conspiracy. He was and continues to be a very dishonest individual who deserves no admiration or respect. He is a pathological liar and criminal.
Denny McLain might have been considered an all-time Tiger great, but his off field behavior during and after his playing days have relegated his legacy to that of a dark and despicable baseball character.
Oh, by the way, your point regarding innings pitched compared to today is valid. Those guys were workhorses. Check out Bob Gibson's stats for 1968 - unbelievable!
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