Denny and the Mick

Mickey Mantle rounds third base after his homer 56 years ago today in Detroit

Detroit’s Denny McLain wins his 31st game of the 1968 season 56 years ago today, beating the New York Yankees 6-2 at Tiger Stadium.

That historic win – no pitcher wins as many games since then – quickly becomes a secondary storyline to the game within the game.

With little doubt as to the outcome, McLain decides to have a little fun in the eighth inning.

As the story goes, McLain has his catcher, Jim Price, tell the once-great, but now-fading Mickey Mantle that he plans to throw him nothing but straight, BP-slow fastballs.

Seems McLain, sensing Mantle is in the final season of a Hall of Fame career, wants to give Mantle a nice parting gift before a Thursday afternoon crowd of 9,063 in Detroit.

Initially, Mantle does not believe what Price is telling him, only to have McLain verbally reinforce his commitment to throw nothing but hit-me-hard fastballs.

Something, McLain wants, that Mantle could hit out of the ballpark.

Finally convinced, Mantle proceeds to deposit McLain’s 0-2 fastball, such as it is, into the right-field stands for his 535th career homer, moving him past Jimmie Foxx and into third place behind only Babe Ruth and Willie Mays on the all-time list.

McLain eventually gets to be involved in another parting gift, well sort of, just a few years later.

Exactly one week shy of the fourth anniversary of his gift homer to Mantle in 1968, McLain – by then mightily toiling with the Atlanta Braves – faces the final three batters of his meteoric career as he works the top of the ninth inning of a 4-4 game against the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 12, 1972 at Fulton County Stadium.

There, he promptly allows a leadoff homer to Cesar Geronimo, a single to pinch-hitter Joe Hague and another single to Pete Rose – the 7,719th and final batter McLain faces in his major league career.

Oh, yeah, McLain loses that final game to the Reds 7-5.