Denny McLain

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58+23 consecutive scoreless innings during the 1968 season. [12] As a result of the dropping offensive statistics, Major League Baseball took steps to reduce the advantage held by pitchers by lowering the height of the pitcher's mound from 15 inches to 10, and by reducing the size of the strike zone for the 1969 season. [33] Since then, no pitcher has won more than 27 games in a season.

Later career

In January 1969, McLain was selected as the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. [34] He created more disruption when he was named as the starting pitcher for the American League in the 1969 All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., but missed the start of the game because of a dental appointment in Detroit. The appointment was scheduled for Wednesday the 23rd, the day after the All-Star game, but because of a rainout on the scheduled date, the game was played on the 23rd. [35]

McLain was a nonconformist and liked to play by his own rules. [4] He had learned to fly and purchased an airplane. [4] Having kept his dental appointment, he then flew himself to Washington, arriving at the game during the second inning. [35] He pitched in the fourth inning, but by then the National League had already built a 9–2 lead. [36]

McLain created more dissension when he clashed with Tigers' manager Mayo Smith over the latter's role in the firing of Johnny Sain as the team's pitching coach. [2] Despite the troubles, McLain had another productive season in 1969, winning 24 games and a second consecutive Cy Young Award, tying with Baltimore's Mike Cuellar, marking the first time two players had shared the award. [1] [37] It was the last award of his major league career. [1]

The downfall

In February 1970, Sports Illustrated and Penthouse both published articles about McLain's involvement in bookmaking activities. Sports Illustrated cited sources who alleged that the foot injury suffered by McLain late in 1967 was caused by an organized crime figure who stomped on McLain's foot as punishment for failing to pay off on a lost bet. Early in his career, McLain's interest in betting on horses was piqued by Chuck Dressen, one of his first managers. [2] McLain's descent into his gambling obsession was further precipitated by an offhand remark made during an interview: that he drank about a case of Pepsi a day. (When he pitched, he was known to drink a Pepsi between innings.) A representative from Pepsi then offered McLain a contract with the company, just for doing a few endorsements. McLain soon realized that he and the Pepsi representative shared an affinity for gambling; when the two realized how much money they were losing, and that they could earn so much more by "taking the action" on bets, they attempted to set up a bookmaking operation as hands-off, silent partners.

McLain was suspended indefinitely by Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn; the suspension was then set for the first three months of the 1970 season. [38] He returned in mid-season, but struggled to pitch well. [4] In September, the Tigers suspended him for seven days after he doused sportswriters Jim Hawkins of the Detroit Free Press and Watson Spoelstra of The Detroit News with buckets of water. Just as the seven-day suspension was about to end, he was suspended for at least the remainder of the season by Kuhn for carrying a gun on a team flight. [4] McLain's 1970 season ended with a won-loss record of only 3–5. [1] Later that year, he was forced into bankruptcy despite being the first $100,000 player in Tigers history. [4] Meanwhile, McLain and his friend Jim Northrup schemed together to make more money; they were back in Detroit furthering a plan that they shared to generate a nude baseball model calendar. These efforts eventually fell short.

On October 9, 1970, the Tigers traded McLain, Elliott Maddox, Norm McRae, and Don Wert to the Washington Senators for Joe Coleman, Eddie Brinkman, Jim Hannan, and Aurelio Rodríguez. [39] Kuhn actually had to clear the trade because McLain was still under suspension, and suspended players cannot be traded without the commissioner's permission. Kuhn later wrote in his autobiography, Hardball: The Education of a Baseball Commissioner, that he was shocked at what he called a "foolish gamble" by the Senators, and predicted that the trade would turn out to be a Tiger heist.

The McLain trade was made over the strenuous objections of Senators manager Ted Williams, who had little patience for McLain's high living. [40] The feeling was mutual; early in the 1971 season, McLain became a charter member of the "Underminers' Club", a group of five players dedicated to getting Williams fired. They spent much of the season feuding over Williams' use of a then-unusual five-man rotation for his starters. Senators broadcaster Shelby Whitfield later told Rob Neyer that when Williams yanked McLain early from a July 5 game against the Cleveland Indians, McLain threatened to call Senators owner Bob Short and have him get rid of Williams. [41]

By this time, McLain had serious arm trouble, inadvertently made worse by numerous cortisone shots he took for his sore arm. [40] As a result, he essentially stopped throwing fastballs midway through the 1971 season. [41] Due to his arm troubles and his inability to get along with Williams, McLain went 10–22. [1] He thus earned the dubious distinction of going from leading his league in wins (tied with Mike Cuellar with 24 wins in 1969) to two years later leading his league in losses. [2] McLain's 22 defeats (a mark later tied by three pitchers, all in 1974) remains the most in a major-league season since Jack Fisher of the Mets lost 24 in 1965.

After the 1971 season, McLain was traded to the Oakland Athletics for journeyman pitcher Jim Panther and prospect Don Stanhouse (who went on to have a few good years as the Baltimore Orioles' closer in the late 1970s). [41] After only five starts, one win, and a 6.04 ERA, the Athletics sent him to the minor leagues on May 15. The Associated Press said the reasons for the demotion were "pitches which lacked steam and a medical problem." [42] On June 29, Oakland traded him to the Atlanta Braves for Orlando Cepeda; [43] he went only 3–5 for Atlanta, and his overall totals for 1972 were 4–7 with a 6.37 ERA. His final major league appearance came on September 12 against the Cincinnati Reds; he came into a tied game in the ninth and promptly gave up three runs without retiring a batter, taking the loss. (Coincidentally, the last batter McLain ever faced in the major leagues was Pete Rose, who also was involved in a gambling scandal years later.) [1] The Braves released McLain during spring training, on March 26, 1973. [44] After short stints with minor-league clubs in Des Moines and Shreveport, McLain retired. [6] Three years after winning 31 games and two years after winning his second consecutive Cy Young, he was out of baseball at the age of 29. [4]

Music career

McLain's success on the playing field led to endorsement opportunities from the Hammond Organ Company; he also made musical appearances in Las Vegas. [45] He was invited to appear with his musical quartet on The Ed Sullivan Show along with his World Series opponent (and guitarist) Bob Gibson. [46] McLain also made appearances on The Steve Allen Show and The Joey Bishop Show. [47] He also released two albums on Capitol Records, Denny McLain at the Organ (1968) and Denny McLain in Las Vegas (1969). [48]

Career statistics

In a 10-year major-league career, McLain won 131 games against 91 losses. His career earned run average was 3.39 and he recorded 1,282 strikeouts in 1,886 innings pitched. McLain was a three-time All-Star and won the Cy Young Award twice in his career. Because he relied so much on his fastball, he also surrendered numerous home runs, leading the American League in home runs allowed in three consecutive years (1966–1968). [1] [47]

Since McLain's 31-win season, only two other pitchers have approached the 30-game milestone (Steve Carlton won 27 games in 1972 and Bob Welch also with 27 victories in 1990). [49] With Major League Baseball moving from the four-man pitching rotation of McLain's era to five-man rotations, and with the increased reliance on relief pitchers, some observers believe that another 30-game winner may not occur because of the way the game is played today. [12] [49]

Denny McLain
Denny McLain 1966.jpg
McLain in 1966
Pitcher
Born: (1944-03-29) March 29, 1944 (age 80)
Markham, Illinois, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 21, 1963, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
September 12, 1972, for the Atlanta Braves
W L WP GP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA WHIP
13191.5902802641052921,886.01,6467787115481,2823.391.16

Post-major league career

McLain throws out the first pitch on July 11, 2012, at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park in Charleston, South Carolina. DennyMcLain.jpg
McLain throws out the first pitch on July 11, 2012, at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park in Charleston, South Carolina.

In 1974, McLain played a season for the London Majors of the Intercounty Baseball League at Labatt Memorial Park in London, Ontario. Because of his arm problems, McLain pitched only nine innings for the Majors, but played in 14 games at shortstop, first base, or catcher, and batted .380, including hitting two homers in one game in London.

McLain continued to earn side money playing the organ at clubs, including a club in suburban Detroit where former heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks worked as a bartender. [50] McLain also earned quite a bit of money hustling golf, easily attracting "marks" due to his past baseball fame. Additionally, he reportedly once accepted over $160,000 to fly a wanted felon out of the country. [4]

McLain's weight ballooned to 330 pounds (150 kg) during his post-baseball career. He was imprisoned for drug trafficking (cocaine), embezzlement, and racketeering. Tampa attorneys Arnold Levine and Stevan Northcutt, who later became a Florida state appellate judge, represented McLain before the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta. His conviction was reversed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa. [2]

Between his stints in prison and rehabilitation in the mid-1980s to the early-1990s, McLain could be found on various talk radio sports shows and occasionally on panel-format sports shows on network television in the Detroit area; he also modeled Hanes underwear. [51] He could also be found signing autographs at a metro Detroit 7-Eleven store at the corner of Mound Road and Metro Parkway in Sterling Heights, Michigan, where he was employed on work-release. [2] After his release, he also hosted a popular daily talk radio show for a few years on Detroit talk station WXYT.

McLain's oldest daughter, Kristin, 26, was killed on March 20, 1992, in a drunk driving crash. [4] She had been living in Florida and was moving back home to Michigan when she was killed just a few miles from her parents' home. [52] In part to escape his grief, McLain and several partners bought the Peet Packing Company (Farmer Peet's) located in the small town of Chesaning, Michigan, in 1994. [53] McLain was also a partner in the Michigan Radio Network.[ citation needed ] Both companies went bankrupt two years later.[ citation needed ] In 1996, he was convicted on charges of embezzlement, mail fraud, and conspiracy in connection with the theft of $2.5 million from the Peet employees' pension fund. [5] McLain spent six years in prison; to this day,[ as of? ] he insists he knew nothing about the shady financial deals alleged by the government. McLain claims he paid restitution for this incident. [54]

During the Detroit Tigers 2006 playoff run, McLain was the baseball analyst for Drew and Mike on WRIF radio in Detroit. In 2007, McLain released his autobiography I Told You I Wasn't Perfect, co-authored by longtime Detroit sportscaster and author Eli Zaret. Prior to that, McLain and Zaret hosted a sports television show together in Detroit.

McLain currently resides in Pinckney, Michigan. McLain writes a monthly editorial column and blogs regularly for In Play! Magazine, a Detroit sports magazine.

Kevin Costner's character in the 2005 film The Upside of Anger was partly based on McLain (and also partly on Kirk Gibson, another Tiger of World Series note). [55]

On April 11, 2008, McLain was arrested without incident after deputies discovered an outstanding warrant against him for failing to appear for a January 16 court hearing. [56]

On September 22, 2011, McLain was arrested in Port Huron, Michigan at the Canada–United States border after officials discovered an outstanding warrant against him from St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Because of construction detours, McLain had inadvertently taken an exit off I-94, sending him directly across the Blue Water Bridge and into Canada. He immediately returned to the U.S., where he was obligated to go through U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection. The outstanding warrant was then discovered, for which McLain was jailed in Port Huron. In less than a week, the warrant was cleared and McLain was released. [57]

From 2017 to 2018, McLain hosted a Sunday radio show about life and politics on WFDF (AM). [58]

In January 2019 McLain and former local sportscasters Eli Zaret and Bob Page launched a podcast called No Filter Sports.

In October 2020, McLain held an estate sale hosted by Aaron's Estate Sales. This event was covered nationally by outlets such as ESPN and the Associated Press. [59] [60] [61]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Denny McLain statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Acocella, Nick. "From the big time to the big house". ESPN. Retrieved December 24, 2011.
  3. 30-Game Winners Since 1900. October 1988. Retrieved December 28, 2011.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Armour, Mark. "The Baseball Biography Project: Denny McLain". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Thomashoff, Craig (March 2002). Fallen Star: The Downfall of Former Pitcher Denny McLain . Retrieved December 23, 2011.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  6. 1 2 3 "Denny McLain minor league statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  7. "Denny New Strikeout King". Vancouver Sun . June 16, 1965. p. 29. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  8. "1965 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  9. "1966 All-Star Game". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  10. "McLain Set Down NL Stars On 28 Pitches". The Morning Record. Meridian, Conn. Associated Press. July 13, 1966. p. 4. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  11. 1 2 Sargent, Jim (February 2004). Jim Northrup Recalls His Playing Days With Tigers . Retrieved December 24, 2011.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "1968: Year of the Pitcher". thisgreatgame.com. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  13. "1967 Denny McLain pitching log". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  14. "1967 American League Team Statistics and Standings". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  15. "1968 Detroit Tigers Schedule, Box Scores and Splits". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  16. "McLain Blasts Detroit Fans". St. Petersburg Independent . May 6, 1968. p. 3. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  17. "1968 Denny McLain pitching log". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  18. Rushin, Steve (July 19, 1993). "The Season Of High Heat". Sports Illustrated. p. 5. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  19. "Denny McClain". Time . September 13, 1968. Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
  20. 1 2 "Denny McLain becomes a 30-game winner". history.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  21. 1 2 3 "McLain now has 31 and Mantle has 535". Ottawa Citizen . Associated Press. September 20, 1968. p. 19. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  22. 1 2 Wendel, Tim (March 13, 2012). Summer of '68: The Season That Changed Baseball – and America – Forever . Cambridge, Mass: DaCapo Press. p. 128. ISBN   978-0-3068-2018-2.
  23. Schwarz, Alan "The Day the Tigers Tipped Pitches for the Mick". The New York Times. May 9, 2009.
  24. "1968 American League Team Statistics and Standings". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  25. "1968 All-Star Game". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  26. "1968 American League Most Valuable Player Award voting results". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  27. "1968 American League Cy Young Award voting results". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  28. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures. 2008 Edition. p.152. David Nemec and Scott Flatow. Penguin Group. New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
  29. "Denny McLain post-season statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  30. "1968 World Series Game 6 box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  31. "1968 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  32. "Expanded strike zone unveiled". The Press-Courier. Oxnard, Calif. Associated Press. March 8, 1963. p. 9. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  33. "McLain Says Lower Mound Will Take Toll of Pitchers". The Telegraph-Herald . Dubuque, Iowa. Associated Press. January 14, 1969. p. 13. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  34. "Denny McLain Is Named Male Athlete of the Year". The Miami News. Associated Press. January 23, 1969. Retrieved December 23, 2011.[ permanent dead link ]
  35. 1 2 "Denny McLain Returns in Time To View AL All-Star Disaster". The Day . New London, Conn. New York Times News Service. July 23, 1969. p. 21. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  36. "1969 All-Star Game". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  37. "Cuellar, McLain Involved in First Young Award Tie". The Free-Lance Star. Fredericksburg, Va. Associated Press. November 6, 1969. p. 8. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  38. "Kuhn Suspends Tiger Ace Denny McLain". Deseret News . Salt Lake City. Associated Press. February 20, 1970. p. 8. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  39. "Senators Get Denny McLain". The Free Lance-Star. Associated Press. October 10, 1970. p. 7. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  40. 1 2 Purdy, Dennis (2006). The Team-by-Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball. New York City: Workman Publishing Company. ISBN   978-0-7611-3943-0.
  41. 1 2 3 Neyer, Rob (2006). Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders . New York City: Fireside. ISBN   978-0-7432-8491-2.
  42. "Denny McLain Optioned To Minor Loop". The Gettysburg Times. May 16, 1972. p. 10. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
  43. "A's Give McLain For Brave Cepeda". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 30, 1972. p. 1. Retrieved December 23, 2011.[ permanent dead link ]
  44. "McLain Released By Braves". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. March 27, 1973. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  45. "Denny Will Take More". Evening Independent. St. Petersburg, Fla. September 6, 1968. p. 2. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  46. "Gibby, McLain to Appear After Series". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . October 9, 1968. p. 22. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  47. 1 2 Rushin, Steve (July 19, 1993). "The Season Of High Heat". Sports Illustrated. p. 1. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  48. "Denny McLain Discography". AllMusic . Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  49. 1 2 Niedzielka, Amy (August 1993). Will Majors Ever Produce Another 30-Game Winner? . Retrieved December 23, 2011.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  50. "Star-crossed stars cross paths". The Pittsburgh Press . Associated Press. February 27, 1989. p. 1. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  51. Albom, Mitch. "The Sports Reporters". April 13, 2008.
  52. Rushin, Steve (July 19, 1993). "The Season Of High Heat". Sports Illustrated. p. 8. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  53. Yuhn, Amy (May 9, 1996). "McLain, Others Indicted for Alleged Scheme Involving Company Pensions". AP News.
  54. Coffey, Wayne (April 5, 2008). "On 40th anniversary of 31-win season, Denny McLain reflects on life". New York Daily News . Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  55. "The Upside of Anger (2005) Trivia". IMDb . Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  56. "Ex-Tigers pitcher McLain in jail after missing court appearance". ESPN. April 11, 2008. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  57. "Former Tigers' pitcher McLain arrested on warrant". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2011.
  58. Ferrell, Perry A. (April 5, 2017). "Superstation 910 AM replaces Monica Conyers with Denny McLain". Detroit Free Press.
  59. "Ex-Tigers hurler Denny McLain selling off sports memorabilia". AP NEWS. October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  60. "Ex-Tigers ace McLain selling off memorabilia". ESPN. October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  61. "Estate of Dennis McLain Major League Baseball - Detroit Tigers - MASSIVE SPORTS COLLECTION". Aaron's Estate Sales. Retrieved October 9, 2020.

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References