(10 of 10)
That kind of power gives Detroit the ability to spot other teams runs and still bounce back. In 35 games this season, they have either trailed or been tied in the seventh inning or later, and still managed to squeak out a victory. In 27 games, they have scored the winning run in their last turn at bat. A tight defense, enough depth to permit platooning of players, and a strong bullpen crew that has saved 21 games so far, have all figured strongly in Detroit's push toward the pennant.
Equally important, the Tigers have been getting the breaks. Last week the Baltimore Orioles touched McLain for two runs in the first inning, but the Tigers tied it up, went ahead 4-2 in the second. In the third, with two men on base and no one out, Baltimore's Boog Powell smashed a line drive straight at Denny. It might have put the Orioles ahead. Instead, in pure self-defense, Denny caught the ball and turned a sure hit into the beginning of a triple play.
A few more such breaks and it will all be there for Denny McLain—30 victories, the World Series, that five-figure bonus check, more endorsement money, more of everything. And for McLain, it will be none too soon. "I want what I want now," he says. "I don't expect to live to 40. My wife keeps telling me to slow down. But I can't slow down. I just live too fast. My father died at 36. His father died at 36. And his father died at 32. I'm in a little better shape than my father, and I can do a lot in 16 years." With that, Pitcher Denny McLain goes whomp, whomp on the pedals —and the sweet organ music floats past.