I’ve lived long enough in this town to know that some summers never really end. For Detroit, 1968 is one of them. Listening to Denny McLain talk baseball on the show this morning, you can hear it again—the echo of a city finding its footing and a ball club that carried it on broad, flannel-clad shoulders.
McLain, the last 30-game winner in Major League Baseball, doesn’t spend much time polishing his own legend here. Instead, his words keep circling back to his teammate, his co-ace, and his friend: the late Mickey Lolich, who passed away yesterday at the age of 85. In McLain’s telling, the story of the Detroit Tigers in 1968 cannot be told without him.
“Mickey was the guy you wanted when everything was on the line,” McLain said.
“He didn’t scare. He just pitched—and he finished.”
That reverence comes through clearly as McLain revisits the World Series, where Lolich’s three complete-game victories against the Cardinals remain the stuff of baseball scripture. McLain speaks not just of velocity or durability, but of trust—the kind that forms only when October nights are long and unforgiving.
“Lolich didn’t need excuses,” McLain reflected. “He took the ball and gave you everything he had.”
The interview drifts, as all good baseball conversations do, into memories of a clubhouse that felt more like a family and a city desperate for something to believe in. McLain touched on how the 1968 Tigers became more than champions—they became a symbol of resilience at a time when Detroit badly needed one.
For baseball fans, especially those who still measure time by pennants and innings pitched, this conversation is a reminder of what the game once demanded and what it still rewards: toughness, loyalty, and teammates who show up when history calls.
If you love the Detroit Tigers, and if you love Major League Baseball lore, do yourself a favor—listen to the full X’s and Bro’s interview with Denny McLain remembering the late, great Mickey Lolich. Some summers are worth revisiting.
