Dennis McLain: What Happened To The List Of Original MLB Positive Tests?

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Not one to shy away from controversy, the last man to win 30 games in season, Denny McLain, hasn't changed his in-your-face commentary on the game he played so well in the 1960s.

McLain, a guest on 670 The Score's "Inside the Clubhouse" on Saturday, was curious to know why baseball cut short on the outing of 108 players he said had positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs in the original drug test of the early 2000s.

"There were 106-108 guys confirmed by baseball who tested positive (for PEDs) a number of years ago," Mclain said." They only named four or five guys, those being the obvious superstars. What I want to know is who were the other guys who tested positive before we vote for the Hall of Fame? If we are going to name those guys who now won't ever get in the Hall of Fame, why aren't we hearing about those others?"

McLain was talking about the first drug test given to MLB players in the spring of 2003 and the fact that more than five percent tested positive at that time. His point was that with this knowledge, BBWAA writers would have a better handle on who to exclude when submitting their Hall of Fame ballots.

"Look, if you are a major league player and are so competitive that you want to cheat when you're playing Monopoly," McLain said. "They want to win at everything they do, including poker and all the card games they play in the locker room or on the road. We may never find out who all those guys (first drug test) are or when (it happened). Just don't tell me that there aren't a lot of guys out there that didn't try the stuff. I am not saying it's a sin or the worst thing in the world."

McLain had two stints in prison for his off-the-field indiscretions with alleged loan sharking and smuggling indictments. Now, he lives a quiet life with his with wife of 53 years, Sharon, in a Detroit suburb.

McLain didn't stop with his prior claim about MLB players.

"What I always thought what they (MLB) should have done is take the bottle off of everything, just let them play and do what they want to do," McLain said. "Look what it's done for the NFL."

McLain was the first man to win 30 games in a season in 34 years. He went 31-6 in 1968 pitching, 336 innings and completing 28 games. He's one of three pitchers to win 30 or more games in a season in the last 100 years (Dizzy Dean in 1934 and Lefty Grove in  1931).

McLain went on to discuss the Pete Rose issue and the former hit king's latest rejection for reinstatement from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

"Pete was the icon in baseball for dozens of years," McLain said. "It is just a shame. If anyone out there in your listening audience thinks baseball went after Pete Rose to throw him out of the game, they are smoking something horrible if they think that. Baseball went after Pete Rose to throw him out of the game. Rose was the last guy in the world you wanted to throw out of the game.

"Here is the problem: Pete bet on the game. I don't care if he bet for or against the Reds, we want to believe he always gave 110 percent when he played the game. When you owe a bookmaker five or six hundred thousand, whatever the numbers were and these are monster numbers and you need to get these guys off of your back and not go to the feds (government), you are liable to do anything. If you read the betting slips, there was a Dowd report and its 222 pages. If you don't come away from that thinking that Rose bet against the Reds, then you aren't coming away with the same conclusion everyone else has who has read it concluded. You read it and come up with your own conclusion. On his numbers alone, he should be in the Hall of Fame. It is like an attorney taking money out of a client's trust fund -- you have nothing coming at that point and time. There is nothing you can do for what you have done."

Among his many alleged transgressions, McLain was also indicted for alleged bookmaking many years ago. He may know more about how the underworld functions around the sports world than any man who ever played professional sports. An honest observer of baseball who broke most of the rules people live by, he's tough to believe. In the case of this former superstar and inmate, you know he's telling you what he knows to be true in his heart.

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.