What's my Line? Denny McLain

[dancinkindofguy]

I figured Soupy would know, since his show was once based in Detroit.

[toucansam3]

The mystery guest would later have two toes broken by a mobster and gain 300lbs before spending six years in prison.

[observer9670]

Godfrey was partially right. Sandy Koufax WAS a basketball player. He went to the University of Cincinnati on a basketball scholarship. But he signed a baseball contract with the Dodgers after his freshman year and never played varsity basketball in college.

[JustinVerlander35]

@TheBBQPope

Denny had a good mid 90's fastball with a nice slider and curve to compliment that. He was great at changing speeds and throwing strikes.

[currencyspice]

A real baseball bad boy. When he played for the Oakland A's he gave his teammates a good scare with his airplane piloting skills.

[TitaniumByFire]

LOL Soupy is from Detroit, so he knew who it was early on.

[newhotman1001]

For about 4 seasons he was the best in baseball and boy could he pitch. I can't imagine what kind of money he would command today after winning 31 games in 1968. I met him a few times and he was gracious and humble. My favorite pitcher ever for the Tigers. As for proken 58's comment, Gibson's ERA is impressive but nobody, nobody has won 31 games since or completed 26 of them.

[MegaObserver1]

Denny had another impressive season in 1969, going 24-9. But the wheels came off his career following that season. He was suspended for most of the 1970 season and lost 22 games with the Senators in 1971.

[MegaObserver1]

Godfrey wasn't too far wrong about Koufax. He did get a combination baseball and basketball scholarship from the University of Cincinnati. He played for the Bearcats' freshman team, but signed with the Dodgers after his freshman baseball season and never played varsity college basketball.

[GOODY61]

No one will win 30 games ever again unless they change the rotation back to 4 vs the 5 today. Today it is not uncommon for a pitcher to have 30 decisions and will not start over 32/33 games.

[vtelibrl]

A great pitcher...but also,unfortunately, a famous example of wasted potential.

[tucsonia]

McClain could play the organ and somehow got a rep as a musical as well as pitching genius. My dad, who was a Detroit area professional musician at the time went to a bar he was playing at to see what the fuss was all about. His assessment of his abilities as an organist was "He's a damn fine pitcher".

[InPlayMag]

We need to remember that Denny pulled off a "must win" game six to force a game seven. This fact always gets overlooked. Both Tiger pitchers were awesome!

[puckpeoria]

former TAMPA BOOKMAKER

[RRaquello]

30 game winners are not only rare now, but have been almost non existent since the beginning of the live ball era in 1920. In 1920, Cleveland's Jim Bagby won at least 30. Since then only Lefty Grove, Dizzy Dean and Denny McLain have won 30. I don't believe anyone else has. It was fairly common in the '00s and '10s, but I believe only those 4--Bagby, Grove, Dean and McLain have done it since. All 4 played on World Series teams and all but Grove's won the world's series.

[switchhitter08]

If you look at it in perspective, today's starting pitchers go on five days rest, and on average pitch seven innings work. McLain was one of the last big league pitchers that could go all nine innings before the relief pitcher became popular. Chances are good that you will not see another pitcher win thirty games for a very long time, if ever. Winning thirty games in baseball is like hitting .400. It's a rarity.

[007InMiami]

Is he the only pitcher to win over 30 games? I've never heard of anyone else. At least in the modern era. I'm sure in the early 1900s there must have been a few.

[proken58]

Pitchers with 30 wins were common in the 20's and 30's. Dizzy Dean won 30 games one season. McLain was the first in around 30 years. He still is the last pitcher to do that.

[7beers]

@proken58 Only about a dozen did it in the entire 20th century, so I don't think it was ever common.

[Gnillob802]

The most wins was 59 in 1884. To make the top 105 list pitchers needed at least 32 wins (no one has done that since 1913). Cy Young appears on this list. Denny McLains 1968 record of 31 stands alone in the modern Major League but there have been those that have pitched over 20 games.

[VonCringe]

Arlene mentions Gibson and "Lovitch" - she means Mickey Lolich, a teammate of McLain's. Lolich was actually the star of the World Series, winning three games. Bob Gibson pitched well in the Series, but lost game 7 to Lolich.

Gibson and McLain were the big stories of the regular season in 1968, which has been called the "Year of the pitcher" because of all the outstanding performances by pitchers that year.

[proken58]

Many Baseball historians consider Gibson's 1.12 ERA in 1968 as a more impressive statistic than McLain's 31 wins.

[Ariamaluum]

Luis Tiant led the AL in 1968 in era of 1.60.

[joboots007]

@Ariamaluum And of Gibson's 23 wins,12 were by shutout!!

[nakedBison69]

I completely agree. the single most important statistic in all of baseball, is in fact the ERA

[Scoclamor]

@proken58 How about Tiant that year...21-9, 1.60 ERA, 9 shutouts...for a so-so Cleveland team. I like Denny...great character!

[TitaniumByFire]

@proken58 Gibson wasn't on the championship team though :)

[kfc63822]

@TitaniumByFire Bob Gibson was in 3 ws 2x winner 1964 & 1967 he had 7 complete game wins in the WS in a row!! 17 ks in 1 ws game hollds many WS records that still stand today

[ClassicShowbiz]

There should be a book about Denny called Cocaine and Hammond Organs.

[bigred997]

McClain had a great, great 3 year run from 67 thru 69 and took u the mantel at the best out there after Koufax retired.

And Godfrey was partially correct- Koufax was also a very, very good basketball player in high school and almost chose it over baseball but the Dodgers gave him 'bonus baby' money.

McClain went on to be a jerk and rackateer who spent time in prison and made his father-in-law, the great Lou Boudreau very disgusted.

Godfrey will always be the Watermelon Man!

[Ariamaluum]

Denny actually had a 5 year run from 1965. He won 16, 20, 17,31, and 24. He should have won more in 1967 but he lost some weeks to a mysterious foot injury.

[XMLarry]

Denny won 31 games in one season; that's better than good, he was excellent!

[JustinVerlander35]

@XMLarry and won a cy young and mvp that same season

[soulierinvestments]

I know comic Soupy Sales, I know writer-actress Joanna Barnes, I know comic Godfrey Cambridge, I know NBC Monitor correspondent Arlene Francis, I know newscaster Wally Bruner -- but I know bupkis about baseball. Was Denny McLain any good?

[kolst8406]

McClain was a dominant pitcher for 4-5 years; arm problems and, shall we say, character defects, brought his career to a premature end. He was suspended three times by the baseball commissioner for various infractions, including gambling. He was out of the major leagues by the age of 28, and his penchant for rule-breaking did not abate. According to Wikipedia, in the 80's and 90's, he was convicted of: drug trafficking, embezzlement, racketeering, mail fraud, and conspiracy. (continued)

[kolst8406]

He's spent over ten years in and out of prison since the 1980's. But consider this: I heard an hour radio interview with him in the mid 1980's; he stayed for an hour, and was as engaging, funny and charming as anyone could be. It's hard to reconcile the guy I heard in that interview with the lawbreaker. In his last major offense, he, with partners, bought a company in 1994 and bankrupted it by 1996, stealing 2.5 million in pension funds from his employees. To me, that's as low as it gets.