OT on a slow night: Denny McLain (Tigers)
Had a brief dialog with MGrowOld buried in a thread, but for Detroit sports fans, you might enjoy this.
Here's the link: https://www.vintagedetroit.com/an-oral-history-denny-mclain-baseballs-last-30-game-winner/
For those too young to remember, Denny McLain is arguably the greatest and the worst Tiger ever. Insanely talented and part of a Tiger team in '68 that resembles M football this past season as far as a very unique brotherhood. McLain was sort of the JJ of that season as far as how important he was to the team, but McLain also had his demons. Here are some great snippets from the above link:
"One time [manager] Mayo [Smith] came out to the mound to take Denny out. He said, ‘Now, Denny, you’ve done a good job…’ and before he could finish Denny interrupted him. ‘You’re right, Mayo,’ he said. ‘Now get the hell out of here and let me finish.’ It tells you the type of pitcher he was.
"“I remember when Denny was going for his 20th win against Baltimore [in 1968] and he said, ‘If we win I’m going to throw a party.’ Mayo Smith said, ‘Wait a minute, Denny, we have an afternoon game tomorrow.’ And Denny said, ‘Do you like managing this club?’ A lot of guys could’ve said that and it wouldn’t have gone over so good, but when Denny said it a lot of people laughed."
"I think Denny liked living on the edge. There was just something about him that was mysterious, you know what I mean? He liked trying to outwit people. Hell, when I got out of jail, man, I didn’t think about doing anything wrong. Not Denny. There’s something about him, you can’t dislike him for some reason. He’ll screw you over, come up with some excuse, and you’ll still end up liking him."
“I remember when we were playing Washington one time. We had them 3-0 in the ninth. First pitch, Denny threw a fastball. Upper deck. Second pitch, he threw a fastball. Upper deck. I thought, man, we’re in trouble. The next three guys he threw nothing but fastballs and struck them out. When I came in I said, ‘Denny, did you ever think of throwing a breaking ball?’ He said, ‘How many times have you ever seen three home runs in a row?’ I said, ‘Never.’ He said, ‘The odds were in my favor, weren’t they?’ That’s the way the crazy son-of-a-bitch did it. He’d say, ‘Here’s another fastball, let me see you hit three in a row.’"
“Denny was my man,” said Gates Brown, who spent 13 seasons with the Tigers as an outfielder and one of the game’s premier pinch hitters. “I mean, I loved him. I just enjoyed watching that son-of-a-bitch pitch. It was the way he wore his hat and he had that nice high leg kick, everything was over the top — I mean, the man was cool. There were two dudes I liked to watch in uniform. Denny was one and Mickey Mantle was the other. It was the way they carried themselves. Those two I would pay to see.”
Just don’t let him run your pension.
I worked at Farmer Peets to pay for school.
My best friend there—a kind of worker-poet who introduced me to Bernard Malamud—lost his pension and had to come out of retirement to survive.
Yeah, McClain really hurt a lot of good people. Crushed Chesaning for a good long time.
He can burn in hell.
I was DGC at PBGC at the time. I’m having Easter dinner with the lead attorney on his civil case.
Wow. You never know who is reading these boards.
In 68 my dad’s patient was Jim Price (he was a dentist) and one night, at the height of McClains popularity, 9 year old me got to have dinner with Jim Price, Denny McClain and my dad. McClain gave me an autographed baseball “Best wishes to Donnie, your pal Denny McClain”
The next day in Mrs Martin’s 4th grade class I brought the ball. That was the closest I’ve ever felt to knowing what a God must feel.
Good story!
when he had his radio show in Detroit I called in and won some contest (I think it was name a song that Denny didn’t know) and got an autographed 31-8 Denny McClain baseball. I came across that very ball today for the first time in years - interesting timing on this thread.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:01 PM ^
Are you sure the ball is real? He went 31-6.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:41 PM ^
My mistake - it does indeed say 31-6
32-8 including the World Series. Lolich justifiably gets all of the accolades, but Denny coming back on 2 days rest to win game 6, made Lolich winning game 7 (also on 2 days rest), possible.
March 31st, 2024 at 11:57 AM ^
His two losses in the World Series were against Bob Gibson. An iconic match-up. Lolich won the battle against Gibson in Game 7.
True. He also got 13 runs of support (12 by the third inning) which made the job a lot easier.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:16 PM ^
Denny lived the next block over from me. That was before ball players made the big bucks and lived in middle class neighborhoods. He was married to Lou Boudreau’s daughter. And for a deceitful liar and criminal (albeit in the guise of a lovable rogue) Denny and Sharyn stayed together.
Aside…another well known Detroit player who also was suspended for gambling, Alex Karras, also lived in the neighborhood. Alex once bummed a cigarette from my mother at a PTA meeting.
I loved Denny McLain when I was eight years old. But when I read what he said about teammates I was glad that Mickey Lolich had been the hero of the '68 World Series. McLain was a jerk. No amount of baseball glory can make up for stealing millions from the Peet Packing pension fund.
i went to Tigers Fantasy Camp in '04. During the first day meet & greet with the ex-Tigers who were working as camp coaches, several got up to say a few words (often funny, sometimes profane, all entertaining.) When Mickey Lolich stepped up to the lectern, he started with "Please don't ask me any questions about Denny McLain, because I'd like to enjoy my week here." It got a big laugh, but I got a feeling that Mickey wasn't kidding. Another '68 Tiger confirmed it later: Lolich can't stand McLain - and among the Tiger players, he wasn't alone in that opinion.
The same ex-Tiger told me that Denny knew the location of every after-hours club in every American League city. The ex-Tiger confessed that he went with Denny once, and spent the next day short on sleep, hungover, and praying that he wouldn't throw up or get put in the game. Never again, he said.
Had a chance to have a conversation with a ‘68 Tiger recently. He had nothing but amazing things to say about Al Kaline as a human being and teammate, and nothing but terrible things to say about Denny McLain.
What a competitive player. A lot of ‘nasty’ pitchers are that way - nasty on the mound but nice most everywhere else. I remember coaching a 12U kid that was the nicest teammate. But on game day, he was a different kid that no one could hit. I’m sure it’s always part of their nature. Greg Maddux comes to mind; smiling all the time until it was his turn to pitch. Roger Clemons didn’t strike me as a nice guy on his days off. Pedro Martinez is another SOB on the mound but is enjoyable to listen to on MLB Network.
A bit before my time, but I do remember the 1972 rip-off, err trade with the Senators.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:03 PM ^
1970
I love baseball and as a young boy idolized Denny McLain. It felt devastating when he was suspended from the Tigers and then traded to Washington. Years later, it was shocking to hear he was arrested for selling drugs and thrown in prison the first time. However, he eventually returned to Detroit and become a very successful morning radio host and restaurateur. I enjoyed his show and was happy to see him doing so well. Then, for some reason, he gave all that up, bought Peet Packing, was accused of embezzling pension funds and sent to prison again. A lot of people were hurt.
Cus D'Amato had a saying that round people don't die square. I think that pretty much sums up Denny McLain.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:26 PM ^
Good last paragraph.
I'm not making excuses for McLain, as he was a troubled and often-crooked soul well before the whole embezzling crimes. But that happened just a couple years after his daughter died, killed by a drunk-driver, 3 days after she got married. That was a monster bump for him in life - he got wildly off-track.
A lot of people liked him. He was very good at multiple different things in his life. But he also hurt way way way too many people.
Slight detour, sorry. If you want to go down memory lane about great Tigers? How about Al Kaline?
It was his name on my outfielder's glove. That guy had a beautiful swing. 3007 hits. 399 HRs. .297 career BA. 10 Gold Gloves. 18 All Star Games. First ballot HOF inductee. A lifetime Tiger.
Used to watch him whenever the Tigers were in NY. Guy was a pure ball player.
March 30th, 2024 at 10:33 PM ^
#6 was my favorite Tiger ever.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:04 PM ^
Remember when Al was doing the color commentary on WJR? He was old school thought it was the fall of civilization when Steve Dahl led Disco Demolition night in between games of the double header at Comiskey, and the second game had to be forfeited due to rioters ripping up the field.
Stormin' Norman Cash was my guy. Effortless swing with enormous power and just a real character/ jokester.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:34 PM ^
and can you hear george kell announcing them all? earnie was TV and will always be a near-deity to me, but george was an absolute superstar in his own right.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:56 PM ^
George Kell and Al Kaline on WKBD 50 (or channel 4?) were my introduction to baseball. Late 80s early 90s. I compare everyone to that duo.
with the cartoon tiger animation at the end of the game.
Channel 4, mos def. George and Al on TV, and then Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey on WJR. Those were the days, my friend ...
March 31st, 2024 at 12:06 PM ^
I loved watching George and Al and listening to Ernie and Paul. My favorite George and Al broadcast was when they were talking about a David Bowie concert. I think they were in Toronto and they had to set up for the concert as soon as the game ended.
March 31st, 2024 at 12:11 AM ^
Just a couple days ago I watched on YouTube most of game 5 of the 68 series, the pivotal game in which Willie Horton's perfect throw to Michigan's Bill Freehan was the play of the game. Lou Brock was out at home when a) he didn't slide; and b) Freehan had the plate perfectly blocked. The Tigers then came from behind and won 5-3 as they swept the final 3 games to win the series in 7 games.
My point (finally): George Kell did the final 4 innings of the national TV broadcast of that game. What a treat it was to go back in time and enjoy his broadcast!
that arkanas twang as he said, 'good afternoon everybody. this is george kell and larry osterman here at tiger stadium on a bright, sun-shinny day'.
10 time MLB all-star, career batting avg over .300.
I think he was the AL batting Champ at .343 When he was playing for the Tigers. He edged out Ted Williams in the last week of the season.
I met Kell, Kaline, and Ernie Harwell at a business function when they were working as the Tigers' announcers. I mentioned to Kell some statistical oddity about his 1949 batting title season. He replied in that twang, "You know, somebody told me that a couple years ago, and ah didn't know that all this time!" Like I was doing him the world's biggest favor by telling him, and he appreciated it so much. Harwell was famous for his warm personality (and it was true), but Kell was just the same. A real gentleman.
Whereas Kaline ... well, maybe Al was having a bad day, or he just didn't want to be there. But I remember another ex-Tiger at Fantasy Camp that if you see Al around camp (he was a special assistant to Mike Ilitch), it's better if you leave him alone. Having met him at that function, I had no problem following his advice.
For some period of time (not sure how long), Ernie and George teamed up (this was before Paul Carey). Think but not sure, there may have been a simulcast (i.e. TV got the radio feed) at one point. Also at some point one would start on radio, the other on TV and then they'd switch halfway thru the game. Remember there only used to be about 30-35 games televised, and Tigers may have felt it didn't justify a completely different announcing crew.
I always had a soft spot for Dick McAuliffe, he of the chicken wing batting stance. Also, I remember you could get Tiger player drinking glasses at the local gas stations.
March 31st, 2024 at 11:33 AM ^
the Sunoco gas stations sold twelve different Detroit Tiger glasses that featured Cash, Don Wert, Mickey Lolich, Joe Sparma, Dave Wickersham, Bill Freehan, Willie Horton, Denny McLain, Don Demeter, Al Kaline, Dick McAuliffe, and Hank Aguirre.
Each plastic glass has a portrait of the player with a facsimile signature and on the back a much smaller image of the player in action. The Cash glass shows Storm’n Norman twirling two bats over his head as he always did on the on the deck circle before approaching home plate.
March 30th, 2024 at 11:52 PM ^
My family’s Coney Island restaurant used Farmer Peet’s hot dogs for our coneys. I can remember the hundreds of white boxes with the logo on them to this day.
Name checks
My skin doctor interned for Dr. Livingood (sp) with the Tigers. He said that all the tigers were great guys but one. He said McClain was the most despicable person he’d come across. His actions proved my doctor correct.
Sorry, dreaded double post!
Being a good ball player and a POS are not mutually exclusive. Both can be true, and in his case, are definitely true.
Love or hate Denny McClain, he still won 31 games in 1968. He wasn't the darling of the 1968 World Series as Mickey Lolich was. Let's also give kudos to Bob Gibson in that World Series vs St Louis.
Given how today's pitching rotation works in MLB today, it has become extremely difficult for a starting pitcher to win 20 games in a season.
McClain had the magic in that 1968 season. One that I'll never forget.
March 31st, 2024 at 10:32 AM ^
Probably the last man ever to win 30.
March 31st, 2024 at 11:31 AM ^
I believe the closest anyone has come to 30 is Steve Carlton in 1972 and Bob Welch in 1990 with 27 wins.
Carlton won his 27 games playing for a Phillies team that only won 56 games all season. one of the greatest pitching performances of all time.
McLain and Rumeal Robinson are in the circle of hell of terrible people who did good things for my team.
I drew his blood once or twice when I was working at a hospital over the summer in college. After he left the whole crew made fun of me for not having any idea who he was.
I think it was him where one time I drew his blood and set the vial down. He jumped out of his seat really abruptly when I had finished and knocked the vial onto the ground where it shattered. He stared at it and asked if this meant we had to do it again. We were both mildly annoyed about it.
March 31st, 2024 at 11:29 AM ^
My dad had a client in the electrical business in Detroit who did work for the Tigers, mainly selling and servicing electrical equipment like motors used to open doors at Tiger Stadium. The owner had season tickets behind the visiting dugout, just a few rows off the field. Got to go with my dad many times to games when the owner gave him the tickets for that game.
The owner got to know a lot of the players in the 60s and 70s. McLain had already been heavily involved in after-hours gambling (speak-easies with high stakes poker games). In early 1970, SI ran a story about McLain's foot injury in 1967 that resulted in a winless September and an ERA of about 9 (Tigers went 1-4 in his starts and ended up 1 GB BoSox). The injury was alleged to have been done by a thug sent by a gambler whom McLain owed money to but refused to pay. Later on, my dad told me that the business owner knew some details in late 1967 (told to him by a Tigers rep). At the time, a lot of players took off-season jobs, selling cars, insurance, etc. The Tigers rep told him under no circumstance to hire McLain, who was known to be quite charismatic but a louche. The Tigers tried to keep it under wraps for 1968 because they knew a healthy McLain (not suspended by associating with gamblers) to finally win the AL Pennant.
The whole Farmer Peet (FP) thing is tragic. I'm retired from a big company and living off my pension (covers some expenses). I can't imagine if it went belly-up. I believe FP actually advertised on his radio talk show prior to his acquiring the company.
March 31st, 2024 at 11:57 AM ^
Never get tired reminiscing with this 50th WRIF anniversary interview with Jim “JJ” Johnson and George Baier, who supplied “the crew” — a variety of character voices like Dick the Bruiser and George Swell and Al Foul-Line.
March 31st, 2024 at 12:16 PM ^
Denny, yeah, but anyways, how 'bout them Tigers! Is this the year it finally gets turned around??
March 31st, 2024 at 12:45 PM ^
I was at Tiger Stadium when McLain won his 30th game (on a Willie Horton walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th). In 1971, when he was on his way to a 10-22 record with the Senators, there was some speculation that he might become the first player to win 30 games in a season and then to lose 30 games in a season.