McLain's memorable year relived

By Jon Nowacki

July 07, 2012 at 11:00 PM

Bill Gedde of Superior rummaged through his archives after hearing former major league pitcher Denny McLain was returning to Wade Stadium for a book promotion appearance Friday.

Found among Gedde's collectibles, collecting dust, was a scorebook page from Sept. 14, 1968, showing the Detroit Tigers defeating the Oakland Athletics 5-4 before 33,688 fans at Tiger Stadium. He had copied the game details as a 13-year-old while watching on TV.

The game marked McLain's 30th victory of the season, becoming Major League Baseball's first 30-game winner in 34 years. He finished 31-6 in 1968 with 28 complete games.

No pitcher has won as many games since, so Gedde brought his score sheet --hand written in a green spiral notebook -- to Wade Stadium to show McLain.

"I thought it could help him relive that game," said Gedde.

It did bring back some memories.

Six players who saw action for Detroit that day were former Duluth-

Superior Dukes, including McLain, who went 13-2 with a 2.55 ERA for the Dukes in 1963 before getting called up from the minor-league team.

Gedde, 57, a Superior High School art teacher and wrestling coach, was just a kid who loved baseball in the 1960s. He watched at home as McLain became the first pitcher since Dizzy Dean in 1934 to notch 30 victories in a season. The win came despite two home runs by Oakland's Reggie Jackson, which was noted to the former pitcher.

"Do you have to keep pointing that out?" McLain joked while looking at the statistics.

Detroit trailed in the game until the bottom of the ninth inning, when future Hall of Famer Al Kaline pinch hit for McLain and earned a walk. Kaline later scored the tying run on an error, while a pair of former Dukes came up big, with Mickey Stanley scoring the winning run on Willie Horton's single. And history was made.

"That's absolutely correct," McLain said. "I've got to get a copy of that. It's wonderful."

By Jon Nowacki

Jon Nowacki joined the News Tribune in August 1998 as a sports reporter. He grew up in Stephen, Minnesota, in the northwest corner of the state, where he was actively involved in school and sports and was a proud member of the Tigers’ 1992 state championship nine-man football team.

After graduating in 1993, Nowacki majored in print journalism at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, serving as editor of the college paper, “The Aquin,” and graduating with honors in December 1997. He worked with the Associated Press during the “tobacco trial” of 1998, leading to the industry’s historic $206 billion settlement, before moving to Duluth.

Nowacki started as a prep reporter for the News Tribune before moving onto the college ranks, with an emphasis on Minnesota Duluth football, including coverage of the Bulldogs’ NCAA Division II championships in 2008 and 2010.

Nowacki continues to focus on college sports while filling in as a backup on preps, especially at tournament time. He covers the Duluth Huskies baseball team and auto racing in the summer. When time allows, he also writes an offbeat and lighthearted food column entitled “The Taco Stand,” a reference to the “Taco Jon” nickname given to him by his older brother when he was a teenager that stuck with him through college. He has a teenage daughter, Emma.

Nowacki can be reached at jnowacki@duluthnews.com or (218) 380-7027. Follow him on Twitter @TacoJon1.