The end of the line for Denny McLain

Denny McLain in his prime with the Detroit Tigers

The once magnificent career of Denny McLain in the major leagues comes to an ignominious end 52 years ago today as the Atlanta Braves release him.

The move comes two days before McLain’s 29th birthday and less than five years after the right-hander becomes the majors’ last 30-game winner while pitching in 1968 for the Detroit Tigers.

McLain’s downfall is precipitated, in part, by his questionable lifestyle off the field, spats with managers and teammates on it, and an unhealthy amount of cortisone injections in his right arm just to keep him throwing a baseball.

Denny McLain in his decline with Atlanta

By 1972, McLain drifts from the Oakland A’s in the majors to their Class AA affiliate in Birmingham and finally to the Atlanta Braves.

At each stop, McLain’s earned-run average is north of 6.

After his release from Atlanta at the end of spring training 1973, McLain splits his last season in the minors with the Chicago White Sox’s Class AAA team in Iowa and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Class AA team in Shreveport.

Between the two teams in the minors in 1973, McLain makes 20 appearances and posts a 5.20 ERA.

After that, he never again pitches in pro baseball.

“Today, my rotator cuff is severed,” McLain later says in an interview with AARP’s magazine. “For me to shake your hand, I have to take my left hand and use it to lift my right. I am not going to cry about it, but I am in pain all the time.”

Pain is a constant companion for McLain during a pro career in which he estimates to receive as many as 240 cortisone injections simply to keep pitching.

“But,” McLain says, “(the shots) didn’t work out over time. The cortisone didn’t cure anything; it took away the inflammation. It allowed me to win more games because I was in my prime. You gotta do what you gotta do when you gotta do it.”