Denny McLain
Former Tigers great Denny McLain may not be the go-to guy when we want to hear about selflessness, ethics and responsibility.
Nonetheless, McLain tells George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press that Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta was being selfish by not appealing Major League Baseball's 50 game suspension for using banned enhancement drugs.
Peralta could have appealed the ruling and continued to play with the likelihood of missing a chunk of next season. Instead, he chose to begin serving his suspension immediately.
McLain said he should have appealed and continued to play to help the team get to the playoffs.
McLain tells the Freep:
“I would love to see him hang in there for the ballclub’s sake. He is more concerned with next year, starting clean, rather than helping the club this year.
“Everything’s about him. It’s not about the team. It’s not about the playoffs. It’s not about the World Series. It’s pure selfishness.
“All he wanted to do was put himself in position to get a multiyear contract for an awful lot of money. It clearly shows it’s all about him and nobody else. He might be a great kid and everything, but somehow or other, he took the wrong turn. Listen, everybody can take the wrong turn from time to time.”
-- Allan Lengel
