February 19, 1970: Bowie Kuhn, the Commissioner of Baseball, announces the suspension of Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain, effective April 1, for McLain's alleged involvement in a bookmaking operation. The suspension is indefinite, but will later be set at 3 months. It is the beginning of the end for one of baseball's biggest stars.
Dennis Dale McLain could have been one of the greatest pitchers of all time. The Chicago White Sox had this native South Sider in their system, but let him go to the Tigers. Huge mistake: In 1964, at age 20, he was just 4-5, but with a stronger lineup behind him, his 1.210 WHIP might've helped put the White Sox over the top, as they finished 1 game behind the Yankees. He blossomed to 16-6 in '65 and 20-14 in '66, and in '67, when the White Sox finished just 3 games behind the Red Sox, the Tigers finished just 1 back, due in large part to McLain's 17 wins.
In 1968, the Year of the Pitcher, he went 31-6, which makes him the only pitcher to win 30 or more in a season since 1934. His ERA was 1.96, and his WHIP was 0.905, so he didn't just benefit from the Tigers' hitting. They won the World Series that year, despite him being outdueled by Bob Gibson of the Cardinals in Games 1 and 4 -- McLain did win Game 6 on 2 days' rest. He was named the American League's Most Valuable Player and its Cy Young Award winner.
In 1969, he went 24-9, and, in a tie vote, shared the AL Cy Young with Mike Cuellar of the Baltimore Orioles. He was 25, great, charismatic, and enormously popular. He was 114-57. And he was married to Sharyn Boudreau, the daughter of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Lou Boudreau. He had it all. The sky was the limit.
He did not reach the sky. In the issue pictured above, Sports Illustrated cited sources who alleged that the foot injury suffered by McLain late in 1967 -- a season in which the Tigers fell one game short of the Pennant -- was caused by an organized crime figure who stomped on McLain's foot as punishment for failing to pay off on a lost bet.
In 1968, the Year of the Pitcher, he went 31-6, which makes him the only pitcher to win 30 or more in a season since 1934. His ERA was 1.96, and his WHIP was 0.905, so he didn't just benefit from the Tigers' hitting. They won the World Series that year, despite him being outdueled by Bob Gibson of the Cardinals in Games 1 and 4 -- McLain did win Game 6 on 2 days' rest. He was named the American League's Most Valuable Player and its Cy Young Award winner.
In 1969, he went 24-9, and, in a tie vote, shared the AL Cy Young with Mike Cuellar of the Baltimore Orioles. He was 25, great, charismatic, and enormously popular. He was 114-57. And he was married to Sharyn Boudreau, the daughter of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Lou Boudreau. He had it all. The sky was the limit.
He did not reach the sky. In the issue pictured above, Sports Illustrated cited sources who alleged that the foot injury suffered by McLain late in 1967 -- a season in which the Tigers fell one game short of the Pennant -- was caused by an organized crime figure who stomped on McLain's foot as punishment for failing to pay off on a lost bet.
He returned from his 1970 suspension in mid-season, but struggled to pitch well. In September, the Tigers suspended him for 7 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 that 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.
McLain's 1970 season ended with a won-loss record of only 3–5. Later that year, he was forced into bankruptcy, despite being the 1st $100,000-a-year player in Tigers history. (Even future Hall-of-Famer Al Kaline was making "only" $90,000.)
On October 9, 1970, the Tigers traded McLain, fellow pitcher Norm McRae, outfielder Elliott Maddox and 3rd baseman Don Wert to the Washington Senators for pitchers Joe Coleman Jr. (his father had also pitched in the majors) and Jim Hannan, shortstop Eddie Brinkman and 3rd baseman Aurelio Rodríguez.
The 1971 Washington Senators turned out to be one of the most dysfunctional teams in baseball history. Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters who ever lived, but a lousy manager. He always hated pitchers, and he and McLain feuded. McLain was able to pitch through pain to go 10-22 for the team that, after the season, moved to the Dallas area, and became the Texas Rangers.
Who then traded McLain to the Oakland Athletics. Surely, he would get along better with team owner Charlie Finley's "Swingin' A's." But his attitude, and theirs, didn't matter, because he was only able to make 5 starts. He was traded in mid-season, to the Atlanta Braves, which did no one any good. They released him at the end of the next year's Spring Training.
Legal trouble and injuries meant that his career would end just before the 1973 season, right after his 29th birthday, and he went just 21-41 after 1969, for a total of 131-91, although his career WHIP remained fine at 1.163. When he was able to pitch without pain, he was still great.
But the pain of his shoulder became nothing compared to what happened when he trusted the wrong people and made the wrong business moves. Twice, he was convicted of crimes and served time in prison, including once after he had seemingly rehabilitated himself by becoming a popular host on a Detroit sports-talk radio station. His 2nd conviction was later reversed, but only after he'd been in the joint for 6 years. He now writes a column for In Play!, a Detroit-based sports magazine.
In an amazing twist of events, McLain's last big-league appearance was on September 12, 1972, for the Braves against the Reds. The last batter he ever faced in the majors? Pete Rose, eventually even more scandalous, largely (but not solely) due to gambling.
Rose never batted against Roger Clemens, as they were in different Leagues. In his last season as a player, 1986, Rose managed against a rookie named Barry Bonds, but they never played in the same game.
*
February 19, 1970 was a Thursday. This was also the day that verdicts were reached in the trial of the "Chicago Seven." I have a separate entry for that event.
Baseball and football were out of season. One game was played in the NBA, and it was unusual: The Philadelphia 76ers, who had been the Syracuse Nationals from 1949 to 1963, went back to the Onondaga County War Memorial (now named the Upstate Medical University Arena) in Syracuse, New York, and beat the Detroit Pistons, 133-114.
There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The Carolina Cougars beat the Pittsburgh Condors, 106-104 in overtime at the Charlotte Coliseum. And the Miami Floridians beat the Indiana Pacers, 107-102 at the gymnasium of Miami-Dade Junior College North in Miami. At this point, calling the ABA a "major league" was a bit of a stretch. Then again, that was also the case with the NBA until the mid-1950s or so.
There were 3 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings played to a tie, 3-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-2 at the Chicago Stadium, 2 1/2 miles west of the Federal Courthouse where the trial was held.
* And the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
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