I Told You I Wasn't PerfectFrom being the only 30-game winner in more than 70 years to having the Gambino crime family order a hit for your murder, Denny McLain has surely seen it all: RICO charges from the U.S. government to touring the country as a popular musician playing on national TV and the Las Vegas strip before becoming a close jail-house friend to John Gotti Jr. I Told You I Wasn’t Perfect allows the former All-Star pitcher to share his cautionary tale with generations of baseball. In 1968, McLain set the baseball world on fire by being the first pitcher to win at least 30 games since Dizzy Dean 34 years earlier. But just two years later he was banned from the game for half a season, traded away to the laughing-stock Washington Senators where he entered into a never-ending battle with baseball icon Ted Williams. By 1972, he was a retired star, hustling games of golf. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he was in and out of prison for charges including racketeering, loan-sharking, extortion, cocaine possession, and fraud before being included in wide-sweeping RICO charges that tried to connect him to Gotti and the violent underworld of the mafia. In this moving autobiography, McLain reveals how his desire for excitement and attention led directly to his downfall from being a popular public image and cost him his marriage, which has since been reconciled and remarried. |
From inside the book
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Page 24
... White Sox . Mickey Mantle was my idol , but the Yankees scout had a huge hole in the bottom of his shoes . Obviously , my mother's compulsive neatness kicked in , and I turned the Yankees down . The hometown White Sox , at $ 17,000 ...
... White Sox . Mickey Mantle was my idol , but the Yankees scout had a huge hole in the bottom of his shoes . Obviously , my mother's compulsive neatness kicked in , and I turned the Yankees down . The hometown White Sox , at $ 17,000 ...
Page 56
... White Sox hitters get near it , but Bill Freehan looked like a boxer , stabbing and jabbing to get it to hit his glove . White Sox manager Eddie Stanky was incensed , and his hitters continually asked Emmett to check the ball . We had a ...
... White Sox hitters get near it , but Bill Freehan looked like a boxer , stabbing and jabbing to get it to hit his glove . White Sox manager Eddie Stanky was incensed , and his hitters continually asked Emmett to check the ball . We had a ...
Page 101
... White Sox , Denny was dreadful . He was sent to the showers in the sixth inning and the White Sox won 10-2 . Denny had no excuses . But he had no apologies for his energy - sapping extracurricular activities . " If I have to sit still ...
... White Sox , Denny was dreadful . He was sent to the showers in the sixth inning and the White Sox won 10-2 . Denny had no excuses . But he had no apologies for his energy - sapping extracurricular activities . " If I have to sit still ...
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All-Star asked ball baseball beat Bill Freehan bullpen called cell changeup Charlie Charlie Dressen Chicago club clubhouse cops cortisone cortisone shots Cy Young Award Denny McLain Detroit Dressen dugout Egan f*ck f*cking fans fastball Freehan gambling gave going gonna Gotti Jr guys hell hitters hurt inmates jail Jim Campbell Joe Sparma Kaline kids knew Koufax Kristin Kuhn looked loved major league manager Mantle Mayo Mayo Smith McKean Mickey Lolich Mintline mound never night Norm Cash Northrup Orioles Peet pennant pension Pepsi pitch pitcher play players prison Red Sox Sandy Koufax season Sharon shit Shorthorn shutout Smigiel Sparma Sports Illustrated spring training started story strikeouts talk tell thing thought threw throw Tiger Stadium told took two-run homer Waldmeir walked wanted week White Sox World Series writers Yankees