Saturday, September 22, 2012

The 31-game winner

As the baseball season heads for the playoffs and World Series, this fan rummaged around YouTube for game show clips with ballplayers. One of the most, well, arresting clips (sorry, bad pun) was Denny McLain's appearance on the Wally Bruner version of What's My Line.

For the non-baseball-inclined, McLain was almost certainly the last pitcher to win thirty or more games in a season. Five-man rotations, pitch counts, and well-staffed bullpens have made it virtually impossible for any pitcher to duplicate McLain's 31-win 1968 season.

McLain looked great on WML, when he was in his prime. But as most baseball fans know, his prime vanished all too quickly. His life and career tumbled into sleaze and worse, and he became well acquainted with law enforcement personnel and prison cells. Wikipedia offers all the miserable details. At least he's out of jail now and his life seems to have stabilized.

By the way, Soupy Sales quickly guessed McLain on WML. Soupy could play the game.

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