Womack: Denny McLain wants more recognition from the Hall of Fame
From SABR member Graham Womack at The Sporting News on September 1, 2017:
Denny McLain is one of the great what-ifs in baseball history.
McLain became baseball’s most recent 30-game winner in 1968, when he swept the American League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards for the world champion Tigers. He followed with another Cy Young season in 1969 before his career imploded after rotator cuff issues and poor off-field decisions.
That he last pitched at 28 and still has Hall of Fame supporters is a testament to how brightly and briefly McLain shined before his career went south. With even a handful more good seasons, he’d have been in Cooperstown 15 or 20 years ago.
That doesn’t mean the 73-year-old wouldn’t like more recognition from Cooperstown.
“I think we all believe we’re Hall of Famers, I really do,” McLain told Sporting News in a phone interview from his Michigan home. “I’ve always thought if you did something exceptional in the game that you deserved some kind of recognition in the Hall of Fame.”
Read the full article here: http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/news/denny-mclain-stats-last-30-game-winner-tigers-hall-of-fame/1kga0w6rr9wgf19pynsxh82sj9
Originally published: September 1, 2017. Last Updated: September 1, 2017.