Editing Denny McLain (section)

===The year of the pitcher===
Ten games into the 1968 season, the Tigers were in first place, having won nine consecutive games after losing the opener. McLain made controversial statements in early May by criticizing Detroit fans for being "the biggest front-running fans in the world."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1968-schedule-scores.shtml |title=1968 Detroit Tigers Schedule, Box Scores and Splits |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=December 23, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=McLain Blasts Detroit Fans |newspaper=[[Evening Independent|St. Petersburg Independent]] |page=3 |date=May 6, 1968 |access-date=December 23, 2011 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XEpQAAAAIBAJ&pg=4495,1259790&dq=denny+mclain&hl=en}}</ref> He continued to win games at a remarkable pace, registering his 29th victory on September 10.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=mclaide01&t=p&year=1968 |title=1968 Denny McLain pitching log |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=December 25, 2011}}</ref> On September 13, he appeared on the [[List of people on the cover of Time magazine (1960s)#1968|cover of ''Time'']].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138456/5/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130002842/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1138456/5/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 30, 2012 |title=The Season Of High Heat |author=Rushin, Steve |date=July 19, 1993 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |page=5 |access-date=December 25, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19680913,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216112341/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19680913,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 16, 2007 |title=Denny McClain|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=September 13, 1968 |access-date=December 26, 2011}}</ref> On September 14 at [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Tiger Stadium]], McLain pitched the Tigers to a 5–4 victory over the [[1968 Oakland Athletics season|Oakland Athletics]] in front of a nationally televised audience to become Major League Baseball's first 30-game winner since 1934.<ref name=winner>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/denny-mclain-becomes-a-30-game-winner |title=Denny McLain becomes a 30-game winner |website=history.com |access-date=December 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914123237/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/denny-mclain-becomes-a-30-game-winner |archive-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Dizzy Dean]], the previous 30-game winner, was on hand to congratulate him.<ref name=winner/>

After the Tigers had clinched the 1968 American League pennant, McLain attracted attention during his 31st and final regular season victory in a game against the [[1968 New York Yankees season|Yankees]] on September 19.<ref name=Biography/> McLain had grown up idolizing New York Yankee center fielder [[Mickey Mantle]], who entered the game tied with [[Jimmie Foxx]] for third place in the major-league career home runs list.<ref name=Citizen>{{cite news |title=McLain now has 31 and Mantle has 535 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=[[Ottawa Citizen]] |page=19 |date=September 20, 1968 |access-date=December 22, 2011 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lLoyAAAAIBAJ&pg=966,1221422&dq=denny+mclain+mickey+mantle&hl=en}}</ref> When Mantle—who was nine days away from his last major league appearance—came to bat in the eighth inning with the Tigers leading 6–1, McLain intentionally threw a soft pitch directly over [[home plate]].<ref name=Citizen/> Other accounts said that he called catcher [[Jim Price (catcher)|Jim Price]] to the mound and had him tell Mantle that he would be throwing only fastballs.<ref name="wendel">{{cite book| last=Wendel| first=Tim| date=March 13, 2012| title=Summer of '68: The Season That Changed Baseball – and America – Forever| publisher=DaCapo Press| location=Cambridge, Mass| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4UofAQAAQBAJ&q=price| page=128| isbn=978-0-3068-2018-2| url-access=subscription}}</ref> Mantle hit the pitch for his 535th career home run (the penultimate home run Mantle would hit in his career), putting him in sole possession of third place on the all-time home run list, behind only [[Babe Ruth]] and [[Willie Mays]]. After Mantle's home run, McLain remained on the pitcher's mound and acknowledged the moment, while Mantle acknowledged McLain as he rounded the bases.<ref name=Downfall/><ref name="wendel"/> The next batter, [[Joe Pepitone]], waved his bat over the plate, as if asking for an easy pitch of his own. McLain responded by throwing the next pitch over Pepitone's head.<ref>[[Alan Schwarz|Schwarz, Alan]] [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/sports/baseball/09mclain.html?ref=sports "The Day the Tigers Tipped Pitches for the Mick"]. ''The New York Times''. May 9, 2009.</ref> After the game, McLain smilingly denied that he had served up an easy pitch for Mantle to hit; however, he was later reprimanded by Major League Baseball Commissioner [[William Eckert]].<ref name=Biography/><ref name=Citizen/>

McLain completed a 31–6 record along with a 1.96 earned run average, as the Tigers won the American League [[American League pennant winners 1901-68|pennant]] by 12 games. He had 280 strikeouts and 63 walks, giving him a 4.44 K:BB ratio, a Tigers season record that stood until [[2016 Detroit Tigers season|2016]], when it was eclipsed by [[Justin Verlander]].<ref name=statistics/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1968.shtml |title=1968 American League Team Statistics and Standings |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=December 22, 2011}}</ref> McLain also earned his second [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] berth and won the 1968 American League [[Cy Young Award]], as well as the American League [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player Award]], the first by an American League pitcher since [[Bobby Shantz]] in 1952 and the first by a Tiger since fellow pitcher [[Hal Newhouser]]'s back-to-back honors in 1944 and 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NLS/NLS196807090.shtml |title=1968 All-Star Game |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=December 22, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1968.shtml#ALmvp |title=1968 American League Most Valuable Player Award voting results |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=December 22, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1968.shtml#ALcya |title=1968 American League Cy Young Award voting results |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=December 22, 2011}}</ref> He was the first pitcher in American League history to win the Most Valuable Player Award and the Cy Young Award in the same season.<ref>''Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures''. 2008 Edition. p.152. David Nemec and Scott Flatow. Penguin Group. New York, {{ISBN|978-0-451-22363-0}}</ref> [[St. Louis Cardinals|St. Louis Cardinal]] [[Bob Gibson]] won the National League's Most Valuable Player Award that same year, making 1968 the only season to date in which a pitcher won the MVP Award in both leagues (it was also the only time both [[Cy Young Award]] winners were voted unanimously until 2022).

McLain's performance in the Tigers' [[1968 World Series]] triumph over the [[1968 St. Louis Cardinals season|Cardinals]] was not as impressive as his regular season.{{opinion|date=June 2024}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mclaide01.shtml#pitching_postseason::none |title=Denny McLain post-season statistics |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=December 22, 2011}}</ref> Having already pitched 336 innings and 28 [[complete game]]s during the regular season, a sore-armed McLain lost twice to Gibson (including a still-standing World Series record 17-strikeout performance in the opener) to help put the Tigers down three games to one. Trailing three games to two, McLain won the crucial Game 6 on just two days' rest, aided by a [[Grand slam (baseball)|grand slam]] home run from [[Jim Northrup (baseball)|Jim Northrup]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN196810090.shtml |title=1968 World Series Game 6 box score |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=December 22, 2011}}</ref> Teammate [[Mickey Lolich]] won three games during the series, including a complete-game triumph (also on two days’ rest) in Game 7 against Gibson, and won the [[World Series Most Valuable Player Award|World Series MVP]] award.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1968_WS.shtml |title=1968 World Series |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=December 22, 2011}}</ref> After the season, when McLain was asked about Lolich's performance in the World Series, he responded controversially by saying: "I wouldn't trade one Bob Gibson for 12 Mickey Loliches."<ref name=Biography/>

The season became known as the "Year of the Pitcher", with batting averages and run production dropping in both leagues.<ref name=Year/> After the record home-run year by [[Roger Maris]] in 1961, the major leagues increased the size of the [[strike zone]] from the top of the batter's shoulders to the bottom of the knees.<ref>{{cite news |title=Expanded strike zone unveiled |agency=Associated Press |work=The Press-Courier |location=Oxnard, Calif |page=9 |date=March 8, 1963 |access-date=December 25, 2011 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AxpLAAAAIBAJ&pg=7088,849307&dq=1962+strike+zone&hl=en}}</ref> Pitchers such as McLain and Gibson among others dominated hitters, producing 339 [[shutouts in baseball|shutout]]s in 1968.<ref name=Year/> [[Carl Yastrzemski]] was the only American League hitter to finish the season with a [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] higher than .300.  In the National League, Gibson posted a 1.12 earned run average, the lowest in 54 years, while [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] pitcher [[Don Drysdale]] threw a record {{frac|58|2|3}} consecutive scoreless innings during the 1968 season.<ref name=Year/> As a result of the dropping offensive statistics, Major League Baseball took steps to reduce the advantage held by pitchers by lowering the height of the pitcher's mound from 15 inches to 10, and by reducing the size of the strike zone for the 1969 season.<ref>{{cite news |title=McLain Says Lower Mound Will Take Toll of Pitchers |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=The [[Telegraph-Herald]] |location=Dubuque, Iowa |page=13 |date=January 14, 1969 |access-date=December 25, 2011 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LWNFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5404,1728619&dq=denny+mclain+pitching+mound&hl=en}}</ref> Since then, no pitcher has won more than 27 games in a season.