Only one man has ever won 30 or more games in a season since Dean did it in 1934. That was Detroit Tigers ace Denny McLain, who achieved a 31-6 record in 1968 while leading his team to a World Series title. After one more terrific year in 1969, McLain's career went south fast. His arm troubles had something to do with his demise, but McLain also made bad personal decisions that alienated the baseball establishment. Poor judgment and consorting with unsavory characters eventually landed McLain in prison on two separate occasions. I Told You I Wasn't Perfect, co-authored with Eli Zaret, is McLain's autobiography, and it is as brash as McLain was in his playing days. He tells his tale frankly, sparing no feelings where his former teammates and managers are concerned, and he forthrightly describes his involvement in the drug, racketeering and embezzlement schemes that caused his downfall. Despite also losing his eldest child, Kristin, to a tragic car accident in 1992, McLain has battled to regain respectability and keep his family intact. It's an interesting story, and Zaret helps McLain tell it in an unpretentious first-person style. Baseball fans will appreciate McLain's honest-to-a-fault take on the game during his era.
Valiant Women is a vital and engrossing attempt to correct the record and rightfully celebrate the achievements of female veterans of World War II.
