Great to find your Substack, John. Denny was a staple on a “brokered radio” show here in Detroit with host Ron Cameron, up until about a year ago when Ron passed. When Cameron would promote a Denny appearance on his show, he ALWAYS, ALWAYS led with “…the last 30 game winner, there’ll never be another!” Cameron spoke truth. Denny’d often “forget” he was scheduled to be on, raising the ire of the cantankerous host, but Denny could match him with his often-crotchety mood(s), as well!
These days, the conversation may be will be see another 20-game winner in the major leagues let alone a 30-game winner. 1968 was such a fascinating year for many, many reasons, one of course being how pitching defined that year's MLB season. In addition to McLain and Gibson there was Don Drysdale's scoreless-inning streak.
Exactly right, Robert. And Yaz won the batting title with a .301 average. He hit a 5th-inning double off the Yankees' Fred Talbot to put him at .304. He was 0-6 his next two games, 0-1 with three walks and an 0-5 to close out the season. So....it was close...hahahaa..
It does. I saw him shutout the Red Sox that year. I’d sort of forgotten he threw 36 more innings than Gibson and had nine more wins. And his ERA was 1.90, not that much worse than Gibson’s 1.12. And 15 of his last 16 starts were complete games. And he had a pair of 2-1 losses at the end of the year. Could’ve been 34-3?
Love this story. I was in 8th grade during McLain’s magical season. And the way I remember the Mantle homer, McLain saluted Mick as he rounded the bases.
Great to find your Substack, John. Denny was a staple on a “brokered radio” show here in Detroit with host Ron Cameron, up until about a year ago when Ron passed. When Cameron would promote a Denny appearance on his show, he ALWAYS, ALWAYS led with “…the last 30 game winner, there’ll never be another!” Cameron spoke truth. Denny’d often “forget” he was scheduled to be on, raising the ire of the cantankerous host, but Denny could match him with his often-crotchety mood(s), as well!
https://open.substack.com/pub/johnnogowski/p/the-reviews-are-in-well-some-of-em?r=7pf7u&utm_medium=ios
These days, the conversation may be will be see another 20-game winner in the major leagues let alone a 30-game winner. 1968 was such a fascinating year for many, many reasons, one of course being how pitching defined that year's MLB season. In addition to McLain and Gibson there was Don Drysdale's scoreless-inning streak.
Exactly right, Robert. And Yaz won the batting title with a .301 average. He hit a 5th-inning double off the Yankees' Fred Talbot to put him at .304. He was 0-6 his next two games, 0-1 with three walks and an 0-5 to close out the season. So....it was close...hahahaa..
I forgot that - some of the stats from 1968 are just unreal like Yaz's .301.
Oh man, great article. Seems like two lifetimes ago, doesn't it?
It does. I saw him shutout the Red Sox that year. I’d sort of forgotten he threw 36 more innings than Gibson and had nine more wins. And his ERA was 1.90, not that much worse than Gibson’s 1.12. And 15 of his last 16 starts were complete games. And he had a pair of 2-1 losses at the end of the year. Could’ve been 34-3?
Love this story. I was in 8th grade during McLain’s magical season. And the way I remember the Mantle homer, McLain saluted Mick as he rounded the bases.
Thanks, Diane. My friend Bob Every made sure to send me that pic of Mantle's HR that Denny autographed! Glad you liked the story