Yogi and Dale Berra
Tito and Terry Francona
Ken and Ken Griffey
Jim and Mike Hegan
Gus, Buddy, Mike and David Bell
Dave and Derrick May
Jerry, Jerry, and Scott Hairston
Mel and Todd Stottlemyre
Eric and Eric Young
Cecil and Prince Fielder
Felipe and Moises Alou
Julian and Stan Javier
Randy and Nick Swisher
Randy and Todd Hundley
Hal and Brian McRae
Bobby and Barry Bonds
Mickey and Michael Brantley
Ray, Bob, Brett and Aaron Boone
Tony and Tony Armas
Floyd and Brian Bannister
Jose and Jose Cruz
Jesse and Josh Barfield
Tom and Dee Gordon
Sandy, Sandy and Roberto Alomar

Thank you to Philip Hannon, who reminded me of…

John and John Mayberry
Tony and Tony Gwynn
Dave, Andy, and Adam LaRoche
Tim and Tim Raines

Tonight, I remembered Fred and Jason Kendall

Anyone else?

Baseball doesn’t do that, baseball selects high school players, college seniors, college juniors, and junior college players, all in one pile, every year. Once that’s done, a good percentage of those players don’t sign, meaning the draft has plenty of wasted activity.

It’s time to change that. Baseball players should be eligible for the draft one time, they can choose when to roll the dice, just like the players in the other sports. If a kid thinks he’s ready at age 17, then he can dive in, if it’s age 21, then that’s his time, and each player will live with the results.

There’s no reason to draft 40 rounds’ worth of players every year, knowing each team will wind up signing 25-30 of their picks to begin with. Let’s shorten the draft to 25 rounds, made up of players who declared for the draft that year, and bring some efficiency, and some common sense to the process.

The NFL Draft lasts seven rounds, counting compensatory picks – about 250 players.

How cute, what do you do after lunch?

The MLB Draft last 40 rounds, for 30 teams – that’s 1200 players, and that does not include players in Latin America, Asia, Australia or Europe.

Mind you, that doesn’t mean baseball scouts are asked to rank the top 1200 amateur players in the countries that are covered in the draft. It means scouts are asked to see as many players as it takes, and then rank the best 1200 for their teams, prior to the draft.

60 players, 250 players….wow, that must fill a whole week.

Real Men…scout baseball.

Six men in the Reds’ lineup batted twice each in the inning…I don’t know the last time I’ve seen that.

This quote actually led to “Chinese Aviation Night” in Milwaukee, with fans invited to attend the game dressed as Chinese aviators. Martin participated in a pre-game ceremony.

Here are my picks for this year’s big winners…

AL MVP – Mike Trout

Trout may have just had the best rookie season in Major League history, in my opinion he was the best player in baseball last year, and if the Angels had made the playoffs, he would have been the League MVP in 2012.  This time, he’ll get it.  He does everything well, and he’s on a playoff contending team.

NL MVP – Bryce Harper

My first two choices here are Ryan Braun and Joey Votto, but I don’t think the Brewers have enough juice to reach the playoffs this season, which will hurt Braun, and I think the Reds will win the NL Central by the largest margin of any division winner this year, which may cause some voters to look past Votto.  It may be a little early to pick Harper, but I’ll go with it, he certainly has the skills, and the Nationals are loaded.

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander

Verlander is as good as it gets right now, and he’s on a team that should make the playoffs.  This pick was the easiest in the bunch for me this year.

NL Cy Young – Matt Cain

The Giants will stay in the hunt this season, whether they reach the playoffs or not, and Cain has been a very consistent pitcher so far in his career.  It’s a crowded field, and Cain is the type to be good in all stats, but overwhelming in none, but I’ll go with him to click it up one notch from where he’s been this year, and win a close vote.

AL Rookie of the Year – Aaron Hicks

There are other kids with more talent than Hicks, but we’re living in a strange time for rookies, caused by the economics of the game.  In an effort to put salary arbitration and eventually free agency off an extra year, teams often stash their top rookies in AAA to begin the season.  That will be true again this year for many outstanding young players in the AL, but not for Hicks, the Twins have named him their starting center fielder right out of the gate.  Based on the head start he’ll get on the field, I’ll go with Hicks for this one.

NL Rookie of the Year – Travis d’Arnaud

This one is tough for the same reason, there’s a lot of great talent out there, and it really comes down to who gets called up when, to get a jump on the stats races.  I’ll go with d’Arnaud because he’s got the talent to put up big numbers at one of the game’s most demanding positions.  He’ll be catching for the Mets for a long time, but not until he’s played the first six or seven weeks of this season in AAA.

By Todd Coppernoll – March 29, 2013

I just got off the line with Denny McLain. Today is Denny’s 69th Birthday, and he was kind enough to spend 30 minutes of it talking baseball with me.

Denny is one of the most interesting characters baseball has seen over the last 40-50 years. He was a great pitcher, you’ll notice I didn’t say he was good. Denny made his Major League debut at age 19, in 1963, and from 1965-1969, he won 108 games. That’s nearly 22 wins per season, over a five year stretch, which included two Cy Young Awards, one American League Most Valuable Player Award, and a 31-win season, in 1968, as he helped the Detroit Tigers to a World Series victory.

Denny McLain accomplished all of this before his 26th Birthday, and he is still the last man to win at least 30 games in a Major League season. This was no fluke, and this was not a “good pitcher”…Denny McLain was an absolute force.

The world turned quickly for McLain, there was a career-changing arm injury, a 22-loss season, a suspension for gambling, (NOT for betting on baseball, this is not Pete Rose we’re talking about), and just like that, Denny McLain’s big league career was over at age 28.

Denny McLain was a comet, he was just a kid, then he was a star, then he was everywhere, and then he was gone.

Denny has had plenty of personal issues since his playing days ended, I’m not going to dwell on them here, but they happened, and Denny doesn’t shy away, he readily admits he made his mistakes in life, but he doesn’t carry the weight of regret when he speaks.

This is an articulate man, who has experienced incredible highs and lows in life – on both ends of the spectrum, he has been to places most of us only read about.

Here’s what he had to say…

DM: “Hello, this is Denny.”

BitB: Hello Denny, I understand today is your birthday, what is it, 69 today?

DM: “Yes, that’s right, my phone is jammed with birthday messages today, a lot of people have been reaching out.”

BitB: Well, first of all, Happy Birthday, and secondly, thanks for making time for me today.

DM: “OK, let’s go.”

BitB: Denny, the one thing that always gets talked about with you is the 31 wins in 1968, which has never happened for anyone since. With 5-man rotations, and specialists in every bullpen, I don’t believe it ever will happen again…

DM: “It’s so different now because of the money. They pay these guys so much, the teams protect that investment and they take better care of them now. They watch what the pitchers are doing, how often they run, they tell them, ‘You can’t do this’, or, ‘You can’t do that’, because of the money. They aren’t going to let a guy go out there and throw as many innings anymore.”

“One other thing that has changed, back when we played, there were guys like David Price and Justin Verlander who were still in the minor leagues. There weren’t as many teams, and they didn’t use as many pitchers then, so you didn’t get to the big leagues right away, unless you caught a break somewhere.”

BitB: I know you still live in the Detroit area, and you mentioned Justin Verlander, did you see the news about the huge contract he agreed to today?

DM: “I sure did. It’s a sad commentary, when 25 million in a whole career isn’t very much money now. Each year now, Verlander will earn more than Jack Morris earned in his entire career.”

BitB: On this topic, how much did you make playing ball?

DM: “I made $445,000 in ten years. Today, you’re still owned while you’re under contract, but at least now you can dictate what happens to you later in your career. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have the players making the money, rather than the owners, but the money has changed the game.”

BitB: Denny, a lot has been written about your 31 wins in 1968, but let’s step outside of baseball a little bit. On the field, but off it too, what was it like to be part of the city of Detroit in 1968?

DM: “The Tigers were a unifying force. We were a common denominator in the city and in the state. During the riots and fires and everything, we brought people together.”

“Detroit is going through tough times again, and I’ll tell you why. The city once had 2 million people, and now there are 750,000, you can’t lose population like that, and lose that tax base, and balance a budget. It’s impossible. Not only that, but of those 750,000, about half of them are kids, you just can’t lose people like that and keep things running, it’s not possible. The city is being run right now by a State Manager, who was appointed by our crazy Governor, it’s very sad. It may not be in our lifetime, but you’ll see, Detroit will make it back.”

BitB: The World Series that year was the Tigers vs the Cardinals, I interviewed Curt Flood‘s daughter, Shelly, last year, and she told me her first baseball memory was watching the game on TV where her dad misjudged that fly ball in the Series…

DM: “First of all, he didn’t misjudge that ball. That ball was a rocket, hit right at him, which is the toughest play for an outfielder to make. That ball was a rocket off the bat, I was sitting in the bullpen, I saw the whole thing, if Flood had taken off running before the ball was hit, he couldn’t have caught that ball. People should get that fact straight, he did not misjudge that ball.”

BitB: It was a great Series, with yourself, Bob Gibson, and so many other great players, I heard Tim McCarver say it took him years to get over that, because he was certain the Cardinals were going to win.

DM: “McCarver still isn’t over it, and he can wallow in it. It was a great Series, and everyone played well – the best team won. He can wallow in his misery, because it isn’t going to change.”

BitB: Denny, I’m going to ask you about something, and if you don’t want to talk about it, just say so.

DM: “OK, go.”

BitB: I know your daughter, Kristin, died in a car accident. I’ve heard you say that nothing in life can compare to that loss, and that no one will ever understand it, if they haven’t lost a child themselves.

DM: “Kristin was the most precious, sincere, kind person that we could ever dream for. She had special skills when it came to teaching children. We all suffered a terrible loss when she died, but it wasn’t just us, a lot of people suffered a loss, because she touched so many.”

BitB: Its happened in my family too. How do you deal with it?

DM: “We’ve had three other kids, and seven grandkids, there are other responsibilities in life. There’s a time when you maybe don’t know how you can make it through another day, but we’re all pretty resilient, which is what it takes.”

“Accidents like that are things no one can ever understand, it’s all timing, two minutes earlier, or two minutes later, and it never would have happened, but that day, it did.”

BitB: Denny, a lot has happened to you off the field too. I don’t want to focus on that, but I’ll just ask you, do you have anything to say about any of it?

DM: “I’ve always said no one lives a perfect life, and I certainly haven’t. If you open up anyone’s closet, something bad will fall out. I can honestly say though, I’ve only had one bad moment in my life, and that was when we lost Krissy. The other stuff gets in the news once in a while, and sometimes people like to have fun with it or whatever, but it’s really not important, when we lost Krissy, that was the one bad moment.”

BitB: In today’s digital world, I feel like people don’t read stories anymore, they just read headlines. Ryan Braun is the latest example, everyone seems to think they know what he’s done, based on headlines, which honestly, have been backed by very little fact to this point.

DM: “That’s right. Look at Barry Bonds, look at (Mark) McGwire. They used to be heroes, and people used to talk about their home runs, but now they don’t. Now, people call them cheaters, and scumbags – those guys are tarnished forever, because they did something bad to the game. When you do something bad in your profession, forget it, you’re done; forever, you’re done.”

“Let me ask you this, ‘How much money do you think Bonds made while he was using steroids?’”

BitB: “I have no idea.”

DM: “A ton, you can count on it. He should give that money back, make a contribution to someone other than himself. Guys do that, who knows, maybe he does, but he should. I don’t think any of the steroid guys will ever get into the Hall of Fame.”

BitB: Now that you mention the Hall of Fame, if you had a vote, is there anyone who didn’t get in, who should be in?

DM: “Tony Oliva.”

BitB: Oliva, really?

DM: “Yes, a great player, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be in there. Bill Freehan is another one.”

BitB: Freehan was the catcher in Detroit during your entire time there I think. I suspect when people think of him, they get caught up in guys like Johnny Bench and Gary Carter.

DM: “Freehan was better mechanically than either of those guys. He wasn’t the hitter those guys were, but he was better mechanically than either one. He made what, ten or eleven All-Star teams, but then when his name came up for the Hall of Fame, he just disappeared. We’ve got a problem with how our Hall of Fame was set up. Some of the writers think they’re gods because they have one vote for the Hall of Fame.

BitB: What would you change?

DM: “Look at football, look at hockey, every year they get a bunch of guys in, we get one or two in there, and this year we didn’t get anybody in. That’s not right, there are guys who should be in.”

BitB: I would put Lou Whitaker in.

DM: “That’d be ok. I’m on the fence a little bit with Whitaker and Tramm, (Alan Trammell), I think they could both go in and that would be ok, but I’m on the fence a little bit.”

BitB: Would you vote for Jack Morris?

DM: “Morris is a tough one for me. I think yes, but I’m not sure if I could vote for him because his ERA was always high. I’ve always said ERA is the best way to evaluate a pitcher, and his was always high, so I don’t think I could vote for him, but it would be ok if he went in.”

BitB: Denny, when you see Justin Verlander, there he is, Cy Young, World Series, in Detroit, he is where you were…

DM: “Well, I had two Cy Youngs at 24, I don’t know if you can say it’s the same place. I know I’d love to have his money, that’s one place I’d like to share with him.”

“Mrs McClain is starting to look at me, the McClain Clan is here, and it’s time for my birthday dinner.”

BitB: OK, I’ll wrap it up, tell me this, in closing Denny, is there anything you’d like to say, something you’d like fans to know about you?

DM: “I’m so very appreciative of the fans. I get out and do 60-70 appearances a year, and fans come out and they can tell me where they were when different things happened during my career. Their memories are tremendous, and from the bottom of my heart, I just love it. My baseball career touched them, and all of the great memories they tell me about touch me right back, it’s just tremendous.”

“Hey, I’ve always said, the two words you need in life are patience and tolerance. I’m just grateful to the fans, from the bottom of my heart.”

Tonight, the kid dominated, retiring the first 18 batters he faced, by commanding four different pitches for strikes, and keeping the fastball in the low 90s. After the game, one of the “bird dog” scouts who had watched him came over to have a few words. He left with, “I’m going to call my boss tonight.”

Trust me, you should root for this story to keep adding chapters, I know I am…