Editor’s note: James Larsen II is a Gwinn resident, fourth-generation Detroit Tigers fan and player-manager of the Tri-City North Stars baseball club of the Wishigan League.

This is part of an interview with former Tigers star Denny McLain, who attended the Upper Midwest Sports Collectors Club show at Northern Michigan University in Marquette on Nov. 1. He spoke with fans, answered questions, signed autographs and posed for photos at the show, and this is where Larsen originally talked to him.

Larsen followed up with a phone interview several days later.

Denny McLain, 71, is the last Major League Baseball pitcher to win 30 games, compiling a 31-6 record in 1968. McLain also has a checkered past and has been popular speaker over the years for his outspoken views on baseball.

He played 10 years in the majors, wearing the Old English “D” of the Tigers for his first eight seasons. He was a three time all-star, won back-to-back Cy Young awards in 1968 and 1969, took home the American League Most Valuable Player award in 1968, and was a key component of the world champion ’68 Detroit Tigers.

Personal issues led to his exit from baseball and subsequent legal problems.

I spoke with McLain at the Upper Midwest Sports Collectors Club show. Always witty, Denny was also gracious with his time and interested in speaking further with me about his time with the Tigers. The following are some questions and answers from the man himself shortly after attending the show.

James Larsen: How did you enjoy your time in Marquette?

Denny McLain: I enjoyed getting back up here. The people are great!

JL: What’s Denny McLain up to these days?

DM: A lot of this. I typically do over 200 events a year from coast to coast. Mostly promotional activities. I enjoy the game and being around it. It’s just a nice way to live.

JL: The (Kansas City) Royals have been the class of the American League the past two seasons. What do the Tigers need to do to get back in contention?

DM: I picked Kansas City in five games. They believe in fundamentals.

The Tigers need to find some talent. It’s that simple. You can’t trade and deal your best prospects. The Tigers were (previously) also playing in the worst division in baseball. They need to go on a mission and find prospects and not suspects.

JL: Baseball means a lot of things to a lot of people. To many it’s a cross-generational bridge connecting fathers and children, grandparents and grandchildren and so on. I’ve been blessed to have had many conversations with my grandfather before he passed away in 2007, with baseball being the backdrop.

In one such session I can recall Grandpa Bob telling the story of Denny McLain serving one up for Mickey Mantle during one of his last games at the old Tiger Stadium. Please elaborate on home run No. 535 for Mantle.

DM: Mickey Mantle was my idol as a young boy and I got to play against him for about five or six years. He was just a good guy who represented the game well. An iconic figure who put butts in the seats. He was a professional at all times who acted like you’re supposed to act.

It’s all about who we are. A small percentage are so judgmental. We all have problems once in awhile. Mickey had his. What’s different is that a professional ballplayer’s problems are high profile. We all make mistakes in the grand scheme, but Mick was great.

JL: What did Mantle say to you the next time you saw him?

DM: When we saw each other we had some chuckles. It was a great experience.

JL: Tiger Stadium was the backdrop to many of your finest moments and a place you called home for many years. We all have our favorite memories from the old ballpark. Can you share a few of your favorites?

DM: Winning 30 was great and all that, but there is one giant one. My No. 1 hit is winning the pennant in Detroit. We beat the Yankees 2-1. It was known earlier that Baltimore had lost, but it wasn’t announced to the crowd and the ballplayers didn’t know until I noticed it on the clubhouse monitor around the fifth or sixth inning. It loosened us all up.

When we clinched the pennant despite 1967’s extraordinary violence with the 42 deaths in the city of Detroit, everybody kissed and hugged each other. Society was perfect for a month. Not forever, but for awhile the city was at peace with itself.

Sooner or later the city is going to come back. It won’t be like old Detroit, but I’m curious what new Detroit will look like. It’s going to be good.

JL: Let’s talk 1967. The city of Detroit is mired in race riots and coming apart at the seams. The Tigers are caught up in a very tight four-team race for the American League pennant, only to come up just shy. Talk about that painful memory and how it prepared you personally and the ball club as a whole for the following season.

DM: It wasn’t just the city of Detroit that was in trouble in 1967. There was looting in New York and Chicago and other big cities as well. Looting is just opportunists. What happened that night of the raid in Detroit had nothing to do with race.

As far as the ball club, it was recommitment. If I’m healthy those last few weeks of ’67, we win the pennant. I couldn’t pitch. We came so close. Than we really made some good trades in ’67. Also the manager (Mayo Smith) and pitching coach (Johnny Sain) knew exactly what they were doing. They showed we were serious when we brought in Johnny Sain. He was the man!

JL: While you were certainly the toast of the town in 1968, that championship wouldn’t have happened without players like Gates Brown, who many consider the best pinch-hitter of all time. The Gator always seemed to come up with that clutch hit when the team needed it.

Speak about the nonsuperstars as well as a guy like Eddie Mathews, who accepts a lesser role during the twilight of his brilliant career.

DM: That’s right. We came from behind something like 42 times that year after the seventh inning. That’s like 25 percent of our games! It speaks terrifically to someone’s character. We had also stayed together a long time. Most of us had played together for four or five years. We had that relationship with our teammates and the city. That relationship was certainly there. As we’d walk around the city, people would call us out by name. Oh, there’s Denny. Hey, there’s Stanley and so on.

JL: After falling behind three games to one, Mickey Lolich wins Game 5 in Detroit, and the series now rests on your shoulders for Game 6 in St. Louis. Talk about your preparation and mindset heading into that situation.

DM: It was the same as every game. Game 1, Bob Gibson strikes out 17. The next game I pitch was in the rain and I’m not a mudder. It was about attitude. We could not believe they got to the World Series with their pitching staff. You see, Steve Carlton wasn’t yet the pitcher he would become later on. We could score a lot of runs, and their staff couldn’t compete with ours. We never thought we would lose the series even when down three games to one.

JL: If Lolich had not had such a stellar performance in Game 7, were you an emergency option in relief?

DM: Yes. I was warming up in the eighth (inning) and again in the ninth. Johnny Sain was going to have me come in if the next hitter reached base. Fortunately, Lolich retired him.

JL: Records and numbers are continually threatened and broken, but I believe we may sooner see Johnny Vander Meer’s feat of back-to-back no-hitters equaled before we see another 30-game winner. Do you believe you are truly the last man to win 30 games in Major League Baseball?

DM: Unless they literally change the game, yes. If they raise the mound back up to where it’s supposed to be at 16 inches, maybe. It was good enough for Babe Ruth and Cy Young, but why isn’t it good enough now? Kids don’t throw harder. Look at all the 20-game winners. The pitching was never better than in the 1960s.

JL: What are your thoughts on how the game has evolved since you last toed the rubber in regards to pitch counts, complete games, relief specialists, Tommy John surgery and youngsters throwing curve balls younger and younger?

DM: They blew it on pitch counts and every fifth day. One hundred pitches is not that many unless you’re hurt. There is too much replay. What happened to the entertainment value and Billy Martin?

JL: And Earl Weaver?

DM: (laughing) Yes. Earl Weaver.

JL: Let’s talk life after baseball. What do you miss the most?

DM: I miss the game. The competition. I’m competitive in everything I do. That’s my personality.