McLain VS Tiant, 1968: Who was REALLY Better?

I'm not here to debate who was the National League's best pitcher in 1968, because that's obvious.

Denny McLain was the last pitcher to win 30 games (Actually, he won 31 that year) and posted a 1.96 ERA in 1968.

But Luis Tiant of the Cleveland Indians was pretty good that year, too. I thought I'd take a look at both of their 1968 stats. This one was so close, I'll let you decide who was better!

That 1.96 ERA was only good enough for 4th. Luis Tiant led the junior circut with a 1.60 ERA. Sam McDowell of Cleveland was second (1.81) and Dave McNally of Baltimore was third (1.95). Amazingly, Tommy John of the Chicago White Sox was just a bit behind McLain with a 1.98 ERA.

Tiant had the best WAR rating of any pitcher in the American League, 8.4. McLain was second, but at 7.4. So I guess Tiant contributed 1 more win than McLain would have that year. But McLain won 9 more games.

Tiant came in tied for third with Mel Stottlemyre (Yes, that's Todd's dad! And the only pitcher to win 20 games 3 times with the Yankees without ever winning 20 on a pennant winner) for wins with 21. McNally had 22.

McNally lost 10 games that year, Stottlemyre 12, McLain 6, Tiant 9.

31-6 for McLain gave him an amazing W% of .838. Boston's Ray Culp (16-6) was second with a .727 W%. Tiant (21-9) was good enough for a .700 W%

How about WHIP?

It was Dave McNally ahead of Tiant and McLain in that category, 0.842. Tiant was second, 0.871. McLain was third, 0.905.

But Tiant was the hardest to get a hit off, as he allowed just 5.3 hits per nine innings. McNally was second with 5.8. McDowell was third with 6.1. Sonny Siebert of the Indians was 4th with 6.3, and McLain was 5th (6.5).

McLain's control was superb, as he allowed just 1.7 walks per nine innings. That was second to Yankee Fritz Peterson's 1.2. Tiant, meanwhile averaged 2.5 walks per nine innings. Too many for a top ten finish.

But Tiant was just behind Sam McDowell for K/9 with 9.2. McDowell topped the junior circuit with 9.5. McLain didn't even lead the Tigers in that category, as Mickey Lolich's 8.1 was good enough for 3rd in the AL. Ray Culp pushed McLain almost out of the top 5 with 7.9. McLain was next with 7.5.

I'll say this for McLain, his arm must have been tired at the end of the season, as he tossed 336.0 innings pitched, plus 16 2/3 more in the World Series that year. Dean Chance (Minnesota) was next, but way back. Chance had 292.0 IP for second, Stottlemyre third with 278.2, McNally next with 273.0. It was McDowell with 269.0 IP that rounded out the top 5. Stan Bahnsen of the Yankees (AL ROTY) was ahead of Tiant with 267.1 IP. Finally, Luis, with 258.1 IP, was 7th.

McDowell was all alone with the Special K, with 283. McLain was second with 280, and Tiant third with 264.

McLain was all alone in games started with 41. This was just 2 more than Chance and 4 more than McDowell.

McLain also went the distance in 28 of those starts. Tiant second, but way back with 19. And that was only a second place tie with Stottlemyre.

But 9 of those complete games by Tiant saw the unflattering "0" underneath the "R" on the scoreboards. That was enough to lead the AL in shutouts. McLain was in a 5 way tie for second with 6. The others being Jim Nash of the A's, Culp, Stottlemyre and Chance.

McLain was taken downtown by hitters 31 times in 1968, for the AL lead in that dubious category. By comparison, Tiant gave up just 16. Earl Wilson of the Tigers, Jim Hardin of the Orioles and Chuck Dobson of the Athletics were tied for 10th with 20.

McDowell led the AL in walks with 110. Next was Tom Phoebus of the O's with 105. Blue Moon Odom of the A's was third with 98, Siebert 4th with 88. Dave Boswell of the Minnesota Twins was 5th with 87. Culp was 6th with 82. Steve Hargan of the Indians right behind him with 81. Another Detroit Tiger, Joe Sparma, was 9th with 77, pushing Tiant down to 10th place with 73.

Stottlemyre led the AL in hits allowed with 243, but that was in 278.2 IP, don't forget. McLain was 2nd with 241 hits allowed. But remind yourself of McLain's IP: 336.0. Dick Ellsworth of the Red Sox was 10th with 196 hits allowed, and that was in 196.0 IP. Tiant allowed just 152 hits in 258.1 innings pitched.

McLain topped the AL in K/BB ratio with 4.4. Second was Peterson with 4.0, but that's actually 3.96 rounded up. Chance was next with 3.7. McNally was third with 3.7, rounded up from 3.673. Tiant was 5th with 3.6.

Gary Bell of Boston was first in fewest homeruns allowed per nine innings with 3.2. Siebert was 10th with 5.2. Neither McLain (0.8) and Tiant (0.6) were good enough for a top 10 finish.

George Brunet led the AL in losses with 17. McDowell, Joe Horlen and Cisco Carlos of the White Sox were tied with Dobson for 8th place in losses with 14. Tiant lost 9 games that year, McLain only 6.

Catfish Hunter of the A's led the AL in earned runs allowed with 87. 9th place (a tie) went to Sparma and Dobson with 75 each. McLain was just back of that with 73. Tiant was even further back with just 46.

Frank Bertaina of the Washington Senators (First in War, First in Peace, Last In The Amercian League, First In Wild Pitches?) and Odom tied for the AL lead in wild pitches. Gary Waslewski of the Red Sox, underrated Gary Peters of the White Sox, Bell, Joe Coleman of the Sens, Hardin, Boswell and Culp tied for 8th place with 9 each. McLain and Tiant would throw just 3 wild pitches each in 1968.

Horlen led the AL in batters hit with 14. Carlos, Hardin, McDowell, Chance, McNally and Stan Williams of the Indians tied for 6th spot with 10. McLain hit 6 batters and Tiant hit 4.

The Tigers won 103 games that year. The Indians won 86 games that year.

McLain received some pretty good run support that year, as the Tigers scored an average of 5.23 runs in his 41 starts. Tiant received about 2 runs less than that, 3.20. Tiant pitched in relief twice.

Overall the Tigers went 33-8 in the games Denny McLain started. The Indians went 23-9 in the games Tiant started. Tiant lost a game in relief and also recorded a no decision, 2 IP, in a 3-2 win over California on September 21st.

The Tigers played .576 (72-53) ball when McLain didn't pitch. The Indians played .496 (65-66) ball when Tiant didn't pitch.

So McLain improved the Tigers W% .262. Tiant improved the Indians W% .204.

McLain, for his numbers, received not only the AL CY Young, the Sporting News Pitcher Of The Year, but also the AL MVP. So he matched his game 1 and 4 World Series opponent, Bob Gibson, in taking in those awards.

Gibson's ERA that year was 1.12! Bobby Bolin of the San Francisco Giants was second in the NL in ERA with 1.99.

Tiant could take solace in the ERA title of the Amercian League, with 1.60. He also trumped McLain in another area: he was named the AL starter in the All Star Game. He actually was the losing pitcher. McLain pitched a scoreless 5th and 6th as the AL lost, 1-0.

How about hitting?

McLain batted .162 with 4 RBI and 7 runs scored. Tiant batted .080 with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored.

How about fielding?

McLain led the AL in putouts by a pitcher with 36.

McLain (1.85) trailed Tommy John (2.56) and Mel Stottlemyre (2.06) in Range Factor Per Game among pitchers.

Tiant was not among the leaders in any fielding category. He made 15 putouts that season.

Mel Stottlemyre and Tom Phoebus were tied for 4th place in the AL with 20 putouts.

Tiant's Range Factor Per Game was just 1.18 that year. Camilo Pascual was 5th in the AL in Range Factor Per Game with 1.74.

References

Shalin, Mike, and Neil Shalin. Out By A Step: The 100 Best Players Not In The Baseball Hall of Fame. Lanham: Diamond Communications, 2002. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 19 Aug. 2013.

McLain: How He Didn't Pitch So Bad In Game 1!

Well, Detroit got swept!

But I was kinda pulling for a St Louis- Detroit World Seres.

Because game 1 of the 1968 World Series is one of my all time favourite games to watch. Gibson's 17 strikeouts.

Now the losing pitcher in that game was Denny McLain. McLain 31-6 / 1.96 / 280.

But there was the matter of Big Bob Gibson. He somehow managed to lose 9 games, but won 22 and posted an ERA of 1.12, lowest in the NL. Luis Tiant led the AL with 1.67, McLain's being good enough for 4th place among hurlers.

So the two were set the square off in game 1 of the 1968 World Series between The Detroit Tigers and The St. Louis Cardinals. McLain, it should be noted, wore numer 17. How appropriate!

Gibson started off fast in the top of the 1st. Dick McAuliffe struck out. Mickey Stanley singled, but was caught stealing. Al Kaline then became Gibson's second K. A message to McLain: Top that.

McLain couldn't in the bottom of the 1st.

Lou Brock grounded out to Stanley, who playing shortstop instead of centerfield! Mickey had played just 9 games at shortstop that season but was inserted in the lineup for more offence. Stanley got 2 hits on the day. Curt Flood and Roger Maris both flied out to Kaline in right.

But Gibson was just warming up. In the top of the 2nd, Norm Cash fanned, Willie Horton looked at strike three. Jim Northrup also whiffed. 5 strikeouts in two innings for Gibson.

After Orlando Cepeda flied out to Northrup in center to open the bottom of the second, Tim McCarver hit a tremendous triple to centerfield. McLain didn't give in. After getting ahead 2-1, Mike Shannon fanned on a high fastball. Then Stan Javier went to 3-2 before McLain got him to take a high one for strike three!

That's what I love about baseball: Pitcher gets himself into a jam, then goes into "god" mode. That's a term in video games, where your character you control touches an item (or uses a cheat) to 'power up" and you can't be touched.

What McLain just did.

However, it's Gibson who is the real god.

Or maybe it's god desguised as Bob Gibson!

Bill Freehan fanned to open the third inning. Don Wert singled for the Tigers' second hit off Gibson. Then it was McLain's turn to bat. McLain led the AL in sacrific bunts (SH) that season with 16. And he got 13 more the next season for the loop leader again.

And yes, there is one out. But go with the percentages among pitchers batting. McLain's average was just .162 in the regular season. And he hadn't faced Bob Gibson in any of those games.

Opponent's Batting Average off Bob Gibson in 1968? .184!

As he tried to bunt on and 0-2 pitch (which I admit is dumb) McLain fouled it back for strike 3.

McAuliffe grounded out to Cepeda at first, who made the putout himself.

Del Maxvill drew a walk off McLain to lead off the bottom of the frame. McLain never found the strike zone in that encounter. Then Gibson showed McLain how it's done in a World Series by taking a ball and then sac bunting Max to second.

Lou Brock was the hitter. He fouled the first pitch off and cracked his bat. McLain missed with his next pitch, but then, 1-1, Brock grounded to McLain, who makes a great play. No, the grounder wasn't tough.

But Mclain looked at second first to see if Maxvill was running. It amazes me how many times I see a pitcher just pick up the ball in situations like that and throw to first.

Maxvill took a few strides towards third. McLain fired to second to Stanley and they nailed him. Stan Man is looking good at shortstop!

With Flood up, you just know what Brock is going to do. Pitchout, Brock stays. Next pitch, Brock goes. Ball 2, anyways.

And when catcher Bill Freehan's throw goes into centerfield, Brock is on third with two outs. So much for McLain's nice play on Maxvill.

But Curt Flood, the fleet centerfielder, tried to bunt for a hit and fouled it off. Then McLain fires a fastball that Flood misses, 2-2.

Ball 3.

Flood pops up to Stanley.

The 4th starts out with Stanley flying out to Roger Maris in right. Kaline again strikes out, this time looking. Cash flies out to Northrup.

The wheels came off the chariot for McLain in the bottom of the 4th.

Maris walks on four pitches, Cepeada, ahead in the count at one point 2-0 and then 3-1, pops out to Cash at first. But then, McCarver walks. Mike Shannon, the third basemen, singles to left, after McLain almost hit him with the second pitch. It should be noted, McLain did get ahead 1-2 and forced Shannon to foul off a pitch to stay alive. But Denny missed the next pitch, and then Shannon hit his single.

Maris scored, and when Willie Horton, in left, overran the ball, McCarver made it to third and Shannon made it to second. They both scored as Javier singled to left. It was suddenly 3-0. And then Javier stole second with Maxvill up.

McLain, shaken a bit, got Maxvill to fly out to Horton. Gibson then fanned for McLain's third K.

Horton led off the top of the 5th by popping out to Javier at second. Northrup was then out on a liner to Del at short. Freehan drew Gibson's only walk of the afternoon. Wert then looked at strike three, Gibby's ninth K!

McLain got Brock to ground out to Wert at third to start the bottom of the frame. Flood popped out to second. Maris prolonged the inning by reaching on Cash's error, the ball going right through Norm's legs. Cepeda ended the inning by flying out to Horton in left, who was actually forced to make a nice play.

That actually ended McLain's night as Tommy Matchick pich hit for him to lead off the top of the 6th. Although he grounded out, McAuliffe singled to right. After Gibson notched his 10th K of the day on Stanley, Al Kaline got hit first World Series hit, a double to left. McAuliffe had to hold at this. Norm Cash then became Gibby's 11th K.

It was the closest the Tigers would come to scoring, as they managed just one more hit the rest of the way. Gibson, of course, finished with 17 strikeouts, a shutout, just 5 hits and 1 walk against.

McLain's numbers for the game don't seem so bad:

5IP, 3(2 Earned)R, 3H, 3BB, 3K.

So it was a game of threes for McLain, although only 2 of the runs he permitted were earned.

And continuing on this games of threes, the Tigers made 3 errors behind McLain, and the Cardinals stole a total of 3 bases, but only 2 off McLain.

The Tigers ended up giving up 6 total hits (3 x 2) and 4 runs total. They weren't gonna beat Gibson with mistakes like that.

I should give them some credit, because after McLain left, the kept Brock off the bases. I mean, when a guy hits a homerun, like Lou did in the 7th off Pat Dobson, he can't steal a base, can he?

McLain returned to the hill in game 4. This time he was shelled, and the Tigers scored just 1 run off Gibson. But in game 6, with the Tigers facing elimination, Denny beat the Cards 13-1,

McLain gave up 9 hits in the game, but was just 1 out away from a shutout, when Julian Javier's single scored Roger Maris. Maxvill struck out to end the game, and Detroit went on to win game 7 behind Mickey Lolich's third W of the Series.

Perhaps it was fitting, 34 years later, when this blogger ran into Jon Warden at an oldtimers game, I asked him how they came back from 3-1 down against the Cards to win.

"We had Lolich and McLain, didn't we?"

I liked the McLain part!


References

MLBClassics, and NBC. "1968 World Series, Game 1: Tigers @ Cardinals." YouTube, uploaded by MLBClassics, 04 Oct. 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR7mFvbd1XM>. NBC broadcast which aired October 2nd, 1968.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.

World Series Of 1968. Dir. Dick Winik. Perf. Curty Gowdy, Bob Gibson and Mickey Lolich. Major League Baseball Promotion Corp., 1968. DVD. Narrated by Curt Gowdy.