McLain, Released After 30 Months, Rejoins Family to Await New Trial

Denny McLain, the last 30-game winner in the major leagues, joined his family for an emotional return home Friday after serving 30 months of a 23-year conviction on racketeering, extortion and drug charges.

McLain, who won 31 games for the Detroit Tigers in 1968, was released from a federal prison in Talladega, Ala., to await a retrial. Gerald Owen, case management coordinator at the Federal Correctional Facility in Talladega, said a $200,000 personal surety bond was posted for McLain, 43, who was convicted in 1985 and sentenced to 8 years in prison for racketeering and extortion and 15 years for cocaine possession.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the conviction last month and ordered a new trial for McLain.

“There’s no way to describe the way I feel today,” said McLain, who was accompanied on the plane ride home by his wife, Sharon, and daughters Kristi, 21, and Michelle, 15. “Priority No. 1 is getting some employment. We’re saying a lot of prayers that they (the prosecution) don’t pursue this case any further. I’ve only seen Sharon and the children five times in 30 months. There’s a lot of lost time to make up.”

Sharon McLain said: “He was waiting for us at the airport, and it was very emotional. There were lots of hugging, kissing and tears.”

McLain, whose weight soared to 300 pounds during his trial, is now 230 due to “tennis and Diet Coke.” He said: “Anybody that goes to prison has got to be changed. You learn patience--you hurry up and wait for everything. There’s a restriction on everything from linens to the telephone to use of the toilet. You really come to know how much life can be abused and how much I might have abused it in the past. Right now, I feel marvelous.”