University of Virginia Library

Mclain's Dilemma

Denny Mclain's was a
$16,000-a-month baseball pitcher
for the Detroit Tigers last summer.
Today he's an unemployed former
31-game winner "living on an
allowance from Big Daddy in
Cleveland."

Fat paychecks will again roll for
Mclain's come July 1 when his
suspension for associations with
gambling figures is lifted, but
Denny's dollars won't - for the
most part - be reaching his
free-spending fingers.

"Mark McCormack became
famous by handling the
professional lives of Arnold Palmer,
Jack Nicklaus and most of the golf
crowd," said Mclain's. "Now he's
got my life in his hands."

Mclain's money will go to
McCormack's Cleveland
headquarters and Denny, in turn,
will get an allowance for
out-of-pocket expenses.

"Anybody who has bills for me
will have to send them to Mack,"
said Mclain's. "I have faith that he'll
not allow me to get in such lousy
financial shape again."

Not only has the loss of about
$40,000 in salary hurt the Detroit
huer, but bad investments and his
eagerness to spend led to a line of
red figures at the bank.

"It'll take me a long, long time
to become solvent again," he
admitted. "I lost a big bundle
investing in a paint company and
did some other foolish things."

Mclain's wife, Sharon, said he
was "just a young boy who had
never had money before and
enjoyed suddenly being able to buy
anything he wanted."

Mclain's re is raised by writers
who he accuses "write far past their
information. Someday the total
story will come out and a lot of
people will be surprised -
especially some sports writers a
know."