WEBVTT - Denny McLain from waived as a minor leaguer to World Series champion 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.719 Welcome back to the X Earning postgame Show with Bill Ask. 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:05.040 I'm delighted to bring a guest on. He pitched ten 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:08.080 years in Major League baseball. He was a three time 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:11.319 American League All Star, a World Series champion with the 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:15.400 Detroit Tigers in nineteen sixty eight, American League Most Valuable 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:19.400 Player in sixty eight, two time Alcy Young. Let's bring 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.440 in Denny McLain. Denny, how are you today? 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:23.360 I'm fine, Billy? How are you pel? 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:25.840 I'm doing great. Thanks for joining me, and what a 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:28.640 great career you had in ten years. But the game 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.280 has changed for pitching, and I want to talk about 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.360 complete games. You were just fabulous at it, one hundred 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.839 and five complete games in ten years. The mindset was 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:40.400 different back then, Denny, How did you prepare for a 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.800 game and how did you get through nine innings? 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.400 Well? It just was expected of us. I mean it 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.720 was that simple. And you know back then, if you 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.920 did not keep your end of the bargain up, you 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.440 weren't going to be there very long because they owned 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.200 everything at that time, you know, all the players, all 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:00.440 the shoes, all the spikes, all the half I mean 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:04.640 everything they owned, and so you had very few choices 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:08.880 about trying to get out of there. But and you 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:11.400 know what, it drives you. I'm going to say it 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.200 drives you to drink. But it drives you to drink 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:17.320 in a sense because you know every time you go 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:19.840 out there, your job is on the line. I mean, 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:21.920 it's not like you could go out there for four 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:25.640 or five. It starts at five innings apiece, and let's 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:27.400 say three out of the five you got the poop 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:29.199 scared out of you and knocked out of the game. 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:33.000 I mean, that didn't happen back then. If a guy 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.920 didn't have his stuff, the manager would come out and 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:38.800 maybe lose a little temper and what have you, But 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:44.960 nonetheless he would do what's necessary. For instance, it brings 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:49.000 me to a real good story. It's all about bunning. 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:51.840 It's all about hitting. It's all about hitting and running, 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:56.480 running and hitting. Hit the cutoff man. Where the hell 0:01:56.600 --> 0:01:58.400 are the people that used to teach this? 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.639 Yeah, fundamentals of the game, that's what you're talking about, Denny, 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:03.920 The fundamentals of just kind of seconds. 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:07.400 Right, And Billy, I'm telling you what we don't. I'll 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:10.560 bet in a month, in a month of ball games, 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:13.880 I'll bet we don't hit twenty five percent of the 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:14.480 cutoff man. 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.640 Yeah, the fundamental balu changed. And the same thing about 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.600 pitchers covering first base, turning to get a double play, 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:25.799 feeling the ball on bunts, that's secondary. It wasn't priority 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:28.359 when we pitched. But I want to go back when 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.679 you started, Denny. You grew up in Illinois. You ended 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:34.080 up going to Mount Carmel High School. 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:35.440 I certainly did. 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:38.240 Was there somebody that you looked at at the big 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.640 league level? Was there somebody that you just wanted to 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:41.800 watch all the time pitch? 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:46.520 Well, yes, there was a guy by the name of 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:49.600 Bob Rush. He was a pitcher with the Cubs at 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.600 the time, and this is how he became my idol 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:58.560 ice in my entire years of living in Chicago. We 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.160 went to one baseball game. We didn't have any money, 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:04.280 for God's sake, so you took your shots where you can. 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:08.600 And my dad come home the night before and said, Hey, 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:11.119 we're going to a ball game tomorrow. I said, Dad, 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:12.280 how are we going to go to a ball game? 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:13.760 I got to go to school, so you're not going 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:16.359 to school tomorrow. You're going to see the Cubs. I said, 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.440 Oh boy, oh boy, so we all jumped up and down. 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:21.920 We got in the car the next day and went 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:25.040 down to the ballpark, and the first couple of innings 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:28.560 were not too exciting, but we were in the club. 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.200 We're sitting there where we're look at all the players, 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:33.560 all the pimples they got on their shed and their 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:35.960 air in their ears, every other thing. 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:38.960 Where you were at a major league game, that's something 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:41.120 that you were excited about. Same thing when I grow 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.160 that's right, and that you didn't have that many chances 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:46.840 to go in. Of course, television wasn't every day like 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.880 we see it now, but at once were like school, 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:53.040 you played shortstop and you also pitched. And boy thirty 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:55.800 eight and seven through your high school years, how'd you 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:56.840 like playing shortstop? 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:02.200 Well, my dad, I said, I had the worst hands 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:06.240 in the history of mankind. My dad was not good 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:11.480 for your courage. As a matter of fact, when I 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:15.560 played in the Little League the first game of the season, 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:18.080 it's the first game they'd never seen me play except 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:23.360 in practice, and somebody said, we'll get McClean, he'll feel 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:25.120 the ball for us and then we'll go from there. 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.800 Whatever it was. So they got McClean and put McLean 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.680 on first base and started hitting ground balls to him. 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:34.760 This is an eight year old trying to catch a 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.359 ground ball. And I can tell you that out of 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:42.279 twenty five balls that were hit to me, I missed 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.520 twenty not a great breakthrough. 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.919 No, it wasn't good. Get him off the infield, my 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:50.680 kid said. 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:53.160 My dad said, I don't think we have to worry 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.599 about it. But do you have a cup? I said, 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.200 what do you need a cup for? You need coffee, tea? 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:02.000 What do you need? He said, you don't know. I said, 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:04.720 what do I know? I don't know what. I don't 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:08.440 know what you know? And he said, well, you and 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.680 I will have a little father and son talked tonight. 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:14.360 I said okay. I said, so this's got something to 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:18.240 do with them and he said, yeah, kind of kind of, 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:20.960 but he's going to do it at home. I said, okay. 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:25.920 The next inning round ball is. You know, people hit 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.320 hit the ball pretty hard if you just lay the 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.160 bat out there. And this one kid was a left 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:37.280 handed hitter, and he hit a rocket down the first baseline. 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:41.440 A rocket is this first baseman can attest to and 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:47.200 Lord about money. It almost ate my ass. It hit 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.440 so hard that I recall and he didn't have a 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:53.720 cup on. And guess what, Denny didn't have a cup 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:57.560 on either, and then he took that right in the 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:01.000 middle of the posts. Yep. 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:04.200 Yeah, I mean you learn the hard way, right daddy? 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:08.760 It was, Yeah, but that's not all. Probably you're so 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:11.400 embarrassed you don't know what to do. So what I 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:14.080 did right away was I tried to adjust my belt 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.880 and uh, that got the bigger hand than anything I've 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:19.600 ever done in my life. 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.080 Danny McLain joined me on the Extraity postgame show. You 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:25.280 end up signing out of high school to the Chicago 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:26.640 White Sox, and. 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:30.320 I thought, yep, I graduated on a Friday night and 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:34.400 signed on late Saturday afternoon. 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:37.400 And you end up posing the Appellationian League. And what 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.240 do you did for the Harlan Smokies the first game 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:42.520 you throw a no hitter and you punch out sixteen. 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.080 I guess the White Sox said, I guess we signed 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:47.719 somebody pretty damn good because that was a nice start 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:48.200 by you. 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:53.239 Yeah, he said, he said, congratulations, Well that was some start, 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.040 some starting out. He said, how you go out there 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.599 the next time? Let's do the same thing. I said, 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:00.920 can you do this twice in a row. He said, 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:02.720 yes you can, and you're going to do that. 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:05.240 When you first started getting into high school, what were 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.200 some of the pictures you threw. I know you threw 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.360 hard as a fastball. Did you have the curveball yet? 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:12.320 I did not throw a curveball until I got to 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.200 the big leagus. I didn't throw anything but a fastball, 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:18.560 a little bit of a change up, but no. My 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:20.720 dad made it very clear to me that if I 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:24.880 ever try to throw a curveball or a slider before 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.880 I'm eighteen or nineteen years old, he would make sure 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:29.960 that I would go back to the plant with him 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:32.960 and work on the steel products. Wow, because no son 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:35.640 of his was going to start throwing curveballs at fourteen 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:36.200 years old. 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.760 Well, in nineteen sixty three, Denny, it was kind of strange. 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.560 I was reading about it. You get waved by the 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:44.960 White Sox because they don't protect you. I didn't know 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:47.840 what that meant. So the Tigers ended up picking you up. 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:49.440 Explain that a little bit more in depth. 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:51.920 Yeah, what happened was, back in those days, you could 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:55.120 only have with a man with a forty man roster. 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:57.800 All you can have is forty You can't cheat and 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:02.080 bubble him up. Someplace they did was we had three 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:06.320 guys with me, the great Dave de Busher with the Pistons, 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:10.240 and of course Detroit became the manager there and general 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.080 manager for the Yankees. And then there's another guy who 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:16.680 had a little bit of a breaking ball. And the 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:19.720 butcher had graduated from college and the other kid had 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:22.840 graduated from college. So they both had breaking balls, and 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.640 Dave threw very, very hard, but it was flat. Is 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:29.480 a piece of paper, I mean, and they could not 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:32.400 get Dave to throw the ball the right way. So 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:36.200 the first game of the season, this is an exhibition game, 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:43.320 and our manager was the hell was his name, Jesus Kid? Anyway, 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:46.120 he starts the game and he tells me and Bruce 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:48.800 Howard who he was the third guy, Bruce Howard, and 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:52.400 Bruce really a nice guy from South Carolina. The manager 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:56.520 says to us, whoever wins this game stays with us. 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.560 If you lose, you're going to be dumped into waivers. 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.120 I didn't know what waivers meant at the time, anyway, 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:04.920 I thought maybe it was a free meal or something. 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:09.760 So we go out and the first pitch that I throw, 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:14.280 first pitch he hit a ball. The ball may not 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:18.560 have come down yet, I'm telling you, the ball went 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:22.560 forever and ever and ever. And so now I'm down 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:26.800 one run, right, one run, So right now I'm in 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.360 the hole. So we go through the rest of the game. 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.040 And that was the only run I gave up, the 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.480 only thing that then Bruce Howard, he didn't give up 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:38.800 anything except a couple of hits. So I get beat 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:42.440 one to nothing. The general manager of the White Sox 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.240 comes over and says, boy, great ball game. We really 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:48.840 enjoyed watching that game, and I hope you'll do the 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:51.080 same thing wherever you're going to go. I said, wait 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.400 a minute, I said, I give up one, I give 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.600 up one hitting. I'm out of here. He says, well, 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:57.959 that was the deal, and he said, and it's got 0:09:58.000 --> 0:09:59.959 nothing to do with you and I. It's the management. 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.360 This is what they want to do, and so let's 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.640 let's just do it and get it over with because 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:05.920 this is going to be a sad day. 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.240 So well, it might have been a sad day that day, 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.439 but it sure worked out well for you because you up. 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:15.720 The best thing is, uh, the first game that I 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.679 pitched in the big leagues, just to go back, just 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:22.680 for a second. The first guy I pitched in that 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:26.960 kind of a setting, Uh, I struck out. I threw 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.920 a no, no, and uh and then and then in 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:33.560 that game I also hit a home run. Uh. So 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:36.280 I had quite quite the week that week. And it 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.640 was just uh and the fact I said to our manager, 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:44.360 I can't remember his whole name, but uh, Wally Wally Moses. 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:46.680 And I said to Wally, I said, boy, this this 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.200 you know, this game is easy. He said, what are 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:52.360 you talking about? He said, he said, don't get cocky yet. 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:55.080 You know you got to play tomorrow too. And I said, 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:57.160 oh no, I said, I'm not trying to be cocky 0:10:57.240 --> 0:11:00.160 or anything, but I said that the all the pitch 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.760 is that right there, all the field that's right there, 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:06.240 no rocks, no garbage on the field. I said, I've 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:10.360 never seen anything like this. So the beat one to nothing, 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.120 and the next thing I know, I'm told that the 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:18.120 Detroit Tigers have claimed the end waivers and that we 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:21.120 have a quick conversation because there's nothing really to say. 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:26.360 And the general manager of the Socks says, while, young man, 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:29.160 I'm sure we're going to see you again. Just do 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:31.600 what you do. What you do, and don't worry about 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:34.480 anything else or anyone else. You just do what you 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:35.400 did here today. 0:11:36.120 --> 0:11:38.520 Well it worked though, Denny and nine six years of 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.319 hell where the Tigers put a brand new uniform, Monia. 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.520 You went to the big league in sixty three at 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.720 nineteen years old. When you were twenty years old. You 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:50.360 ended up getting in nineteen games sixteen games started. And 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:53.040 then in sixty five it started working out for you. You 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.959 ended up being sixteen and six two points six earn 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.800 run average. Twenty nine games started, we talked about it, 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:04.880 thirteen complete games, four shutouts. Everything started working over two 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:09.200 hundred and twenty innings. You were consistent. So how did 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.440 you become this so consistent at twenty one years old 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:13.200 in the big leagues? 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:17.320 Well, I got a couple of rules I'll tell you 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:20.600 about for pitchers, And these are the most important rules 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.400 that I ever had as a pitcher myself. And this 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:25.640 is what Mima Dad used to tell me all the time. 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:29.960 Number One, first pitch strike. Don't worry about it. First 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:33.320 pitch strike, and that's it. Period. I don't want to 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:36.840 hear anything else. And he says, never throw a curveball 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:40.600 until you are physically able to do it. In other words, 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.640 nobody coming out of high school at sixteen, seventeen, eighteen 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:46.000 years old is going to be able to throw a 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.480 real curveball because they don't have the build up yet. 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.920 The body is still a child's body, that's right, and 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:55.120 that takes some time. As you know. I mean, you 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.679 were a pitcher. You did well, and the bottom line 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.559 is that's what you have to have when the start 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:02.520 the nut right, right, that's what you got to have. 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:07.720 So truth so, and it's all about from the waist down. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.400 It's all about legs and butt. That's what it's about. 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:14.120 And my dad preached that to me every day of 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:16.640 the week. I mean, if we're having dinner, he's going 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.760 to start talking about what happens when you got your 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:20.959 cup on. Well. 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.559 The other thing too, Denny, your physique was strength. Your 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.720 legs were strong. You really had a nice body for 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.600 a picture. I mean you your motion was fluent. The 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:33.080 way you had to follow through everything was fluent. You 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:35.240 threw strikes and that was the biggest thing that I 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:39.040 remember watching you pitch back in the day. In nineteen 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.000 sixty six, you made your first All Star team. You 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:45.160 were twenty and fourteen. That year, two hundred and sixty 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.319 four and a third innings. These numbers don't lie the 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:53.040 innings are there? Thirty eight starts? Now you're pushing every 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:56.320 fifth day. How did you enjoy pitching on that? And 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:58.720 how did you get your repertoire so consistent? 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:03.960 Again, well, again, it's practice, practice practice. How do I 0:14:03.960 --> 0:14:08.040 get the Carnegie Hall practice? Practice practice? And you know, 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.840 also I've got a music degree. If you didn't know 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:15.480 that I do. And get that ladder, and that's that's 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:18.240 my that's my that's my baby, because I've been playing 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:22.120 that for seventy years and that was my fun. I 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.080 mean that was fun. And then fortunately when you get 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:29.680 the the exposure that I got once I won thirty, 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:33.360 I mean we could do anything we wanted to with baseball. 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.120 You know, you here for a dinner, some of you 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:40.360 ask you all to dinner. Here, here, build a you know, 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:44.640 they give you balls to sign, they give you everything. 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:47.120 A little mixed up here, but I can tell you 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:51.600 no matter what it was, it was available. In fact, 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:53.520 when I won my thirtieth game, and this is the 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:58.360 hardest one for me to say. After winning number thirty, 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:02.320 eventually at the end of the year, I was given 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:07.240 by General Motors, a brand new Cadillac Ford, a brand 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:11.680 new T Bird and beautiful white Sex. Guys gave me 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.240 a it was a t Bird of some kind. So anyway, 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:18.600 they gave me three cars, all with titles, all ensured, 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:20.080 the whole thing, and. 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:22.000 Well you deserve them, Denny. 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:24.640 You know you look at that. 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.560 Let's look at nineteen sixty eight, thirty one and six. 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:31.000 You're the last pitcher that's ever had thirty games. When 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:34.800 you look at what happened in nineteen thirty four, Dizzy 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.400 Dean did it with Saint Louis at thirty and seven, 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:40.960 and even further than that, nineteen thirty one, thirty one 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:44.240 and four, Lefty Grove did it that year. When you 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:48.280 start dissecting what happened that year, and then numbers. When 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.840 you started the month of April, you go too and 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.560 out at one point nine you only had four starts. 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.720 And the month of May you go six and one again, 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.920 a great great month of May. June you go one again, 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.920 and then everything starts clicking. Everybody's got eyes on Denny McClain, 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.040 because in July you go seven and one, August you 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:10.600 go five and two, and now all of a sudden, 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:13.520 a month of September comes around and thirty games is 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:15.600 right in front of you, and you end up going 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:17.640 five and one. And you ended up that year with 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:21.960 thirty one and six thirty game winner. I'll never forget 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.440 it in my life because I watched it. He also 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.920 threw six shutouts, and that's something very impressive. Bill Freehan 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:30.760 was your catcher. Bill Freeann was a very good communicator. 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:34.720 Another another plus as a battery made what did you 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.080 guys talk a lot alike? Did you guys get along? 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:40.920 We were on the ninety percent of the time around 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:43.640 the same page. I mean, he was the best catcher 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:47.000 I ever pitched to. I pitched the Bench, I pitched 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:51.200 the Casanova, Timmy McCarver, I pitched all of them. But 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:53.600 I'm telling you there was only one Bill free in 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:58.520 The guy was so insightful when it came to a game. 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:02.880 He could tell you before the first inning is over 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:07.520 with which guy took the last bathroom break. I mean, 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:10.879 I'm telling you that's how good he was. He gave 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:13.919 you everything you needed, and when you and you weren't 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:16.600 doing so well, he would he would wait for the 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:18.520 manager to come out, like they want to try to 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:20.760 pull you out of the ball game. And then uh 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.560 when they when they ask free in what kind of 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:26.359 stuff does he have? What is it today? He's not 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:31.240 he's not sharp. And then Mail Smith said, well, you 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:33.840 know you're just off the hair. But so let's go back. 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:37.720 Let's do it. I says, Okay, what part should we 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:39.639 do because we're not doing any of the other parts 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.080 very well? And he's and he says, uh, just start 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:47.199 at the beginning, first pitch strike. I says, Oh, my 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.960 father's back. I said, We're going to try some other things. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:55.840 That's the bottom The bottom line is pitching is repeating 0:17:55.840 --> 0:18:00.520 yourself time after time after time, and if you do that, 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:02.200 you don't have to worry. 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:06.160 Danny McClain joining me on the Externing postgame show. Johnny 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.040 Saye was your pitching coach for many years Bets Detroit. 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:13.040 And of course communication with your pitching coach, the sides 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:15.360 and all the different grips and all the different work 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:17.280 you did. What was some of the mental part of 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:20.320 the game that he taught you, Well. 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:24.600 He taught me, believe it or not. I never really 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.639 had a good curve ball until Johnny came along. But 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:32.119 when he came along. He also brought with him the 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:37.919 Johnny Saint slider. And it wasn't a exciting pitch. I mean, 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.119 it wouldn't bring the house down, standing up and what 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:42.879 have you. But it was one of those pitches that 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:46.000 I could get it over for a strike any time 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.959 I wanted. I mean, I'll bet if you look at 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:54.840 the record, I'll bet I missed maybe less than ten 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:58.960 percent with that pitch. I mean, it was unbelievable how 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:01.399 good it got me and three and two, two and 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:04.440 two and two. It doesn't make any difference. That's the 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:08.720 way it went. And except for the fact first pitch strike, 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.600 I mean that's and if somebody was watching you from 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.280 the other team, they certainly did not make a good 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:21.080 attempt at it because I started everybody the same way everybody. 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.960 And you know, here was the one thing. We used 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:29.199 the percentage of deal on how many strikes on the 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:32.679 first batter, And for two games we did that to 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:36.199 kept the little record of it. And seventy percent of 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.720 the first pitches and both ballgames were strikes. 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.440 And that tells a big difference, doesn't it. It tells 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:45.600 you a whole big difference about the pitcher. 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:47.320 Kept you in the game. You were in the game 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:49.720 for the very first pitch, and a lot of guys 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.040 like to take that little break and think a deep 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.800 breath once in a while. If you pitch well and 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:57.919 you do it the right way, you don't have to 0:19:57.920 --> 0:20:00.159 worry about getting tired. You don't have to worry about 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:04.040 anything else. Now, you got the entire circumference of your 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.320 head in the ballgame, and I think that means more 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:08.200 than anything else. 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:10.600 Well, and that tells you a lot about your complete 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:13.080 games because you got ahead of the hitters, you had 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.719 less pitches per inning, you hit a one time, and 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:20.040 that made that longevity go so far in your career. Yeah, 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:22.639 but there was another thing you did, Denny. In your career, 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:25.480 you were a pretty good defensive pitcher. We talked about 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:28.919 fundamentals before. You only made thirteen errors in ten years. 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:31.680 You know, some of those maybe been throwing it, only 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:33.840 thrown a second base on a double play. What were 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:36.280 some of the things that you gravitated to to make 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:37.840 yourself a good defensive pitcher. 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:41.960 Well, you know the game that you played before a 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:44.680 game all the time with the button the ball back 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.960 to three or four different guys. Pepper is a good game. 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:51.120 It does a couple of things. You're working out, you're 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:54.240 bending over a hundred times, you're doing everything that you 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:57.639 could do working out, and then now you put the 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:00.080 ball in play and you start hitting the ball a 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:03.800