Too easy.

Well, I don't think that athletes should have trauma inflicted on them, though I wonder if McLain's arm problems have been all that bad for him in everyday life. I don't think that being a big baseball star ruined his life; from what I can tell, being an idiot did that.

So the philosophical question is: was it worth it to McLain, the Tigers, or the cosmos to have him throw a zillion pitches at age 22? He went on to win Cy Young Awards at ages 24 and 25, becoming one of the most famous players in the game, writing his name indelibly in the record books, and winning a World Series ring. He won 131 major-league games – true, over 300 pitchers have won more, but that means that many thousands have won less. He made a very good living in his 20s, though of course he missed out on the kind of money contemporaries like Catfish Hunter were making a few years later, let alone what Nolan Ryan would make years later.

If there were a 21st-century Denny McLain, who reached the absolute height of baseball achievement and then flamed out without seeing a really huge payday, people would naturally bemoan the fact. But I sometimes wonder. What more do you get out of life playing it safe? We lament the lost careers of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, but maybe what they had in their arms was all they ever had in their arms. Maybe they should have really cut loose when they had it, won a World Series for the Cubs, and been even more storied than they already are (which is pretty considerable, though not McLainesque). Young men get paid to throw baseballs; if they get hurt throwing them, that's a lot better than getting hurt driving a forklift.

[H]e missed out on the kind of money contemporaries like Catfish Hunter were making a few years later, let alone what Nolan Ryan would make years later.

It would have been amusing to see what sort of trouble McLain could have found if he had received a free agent payday.

My contribution.

This post needs a soundtrack:

The Girl From Ipanema

I always thought Denny McClain's 1970 Topps baseball card made him look like an old man. Anyone else?

I have no problem with the general idea of pitch counts especially for younger pitchers. But to suggest that a 229 pitch inning caused McClain to get injured 3 years and almost a 1000 innings later, seems ridiculous on the face of it.

It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage.

Wasn't the Detroit bookmaker's over/under on the pitch count that night at 223?

But to suggest that a 229 pitch inning caused McClain to get injured 3 years and almost a 1000 innings later, seems ridiculous on the face of it.

I dunno, I think a 229 pitch inning is pretty clearly abusive...

On Aug. 29, 1966, McLain threw 229 pitches in the Tigers’ 6-3 win over the Orioles

Looking at the boxscore: in the ninth inning, presumably 200+ pitches in, McLain struck out Frank Robinson and Boog Powell. With just that three-run lead; Powell had the tying run on deck behind him.

That has to rank somewhere on the awesomeness scale.

How many of these were effective starters in their mid 30's?

Since WW2, pitchers with 1000+ IP thru age-24 season

But to suggest that a 229 pitch inning caused McClain to get injured 3 years and almost a 1000 innings later, seems ridiculous on the face of it.

I dunno, I think a 229 pitch inning is pretty clearly abusive...

Abusive? possibly. But how harmful was it when he pitched 235, 336 and 325 innings in the next three years?

As a Mariner fan, I hate seeing Felix's name on that list above. Maybe we should trade him to the Yankees?

CC Sabathia just misses that list with 972 2/3.

Abusive? possibly. But how harmful was it when he pitched 235, 336 and 325 innings in the next three years?

A 229 pitch inning. Not 229 innings pitched.

Actually, it was that he pitched 235-, 336-, and 325-pitch innings in the next three years.

Innings, outings. What's the difference?

McLain struck out Frank Robinson and Boog Powell. With just that three-run lead; Powell had the tying run on deck behind him.

That has to rank somewhere on the awesomeness scale.

Not as awesome as it sounds. Frank Robinson would turn an old 31 just two days later.

Denny McLain was outed?

There is something to this. But on the other hand, McLain was part of a generation of pitchers that lasted forever and won a whole bunch of games....Seaver, Palmer, Perry, Gibson, Marichal, John, Niekro, Pappas, Blyleven, Koosman, etc. I venture that all these guys, and others, were a lot more stable, mature and took better care of themselves. Such as not missing a pennant run in September because the mob beat him up for not making payments, as reputedly happened in 1967.

How many of these were effective starters in their mid 30's?

Not many. But here is the distribution of those starters by decades:

40s: 2
50s: 3
60s: 10
70s: 5
80s: 3
90s: 0
00s: 1

Far too much of the discussion on this issue is (and, apparently, continues to be) based on evidence from a past that is no longer relevant to the topic.

Note also the distribution of debut ages for these pitchers:

17: 3
18: 5
19: 13
20: 3

From 2000 until now, there have only been three pitchers (Felix, Edwin Jackson, and Madison Bumgarner) who were 19 when they debuted in MLB. There have only been seven since 1990. There has been no one younger than 19 to make his MLB debut since 1978, when 18-year-olds Tim Conroy and Mike Morgan both did it (and both for the same team--the Oakland A's).

A 229 pitch inning

Now that's abusive. I shudder to imagine how many runs they scored -- unless they hist 200 or so foul balls.

writing his name indelibly in the record books

If only he would have written his name delibly on those checks.