Oh Denny, you fat slob, when will you learn to keep your mouth shut?

Denny McLain could learn from Brandon Inge instead of ridiculing him

Tom Gage

Tigers pitcher Denny McLain got some laughs over the weekend when he showed a photograph of the Tigers’ Brandon Inge to a Madonna University fundraiser crowd of several hundred and said, “This was Brandon Inge’s last photo before he began whining about his playing time.”

Tigers pitcher Denny McLain got some laughs over the weekend when he showed a photograph of the Tigers’ Brandon Inge to a Madonna University fundraiser crowd of several hundred and said, “This was Brandon Inge’s last photo before he began whining about his playing time.” (Associated Press)

Cheap shot or joke?

I say cheap shot.

If you read Terry Foster's column on Monday, you know former Tigers pitcher Denny McLain got some laughs over the weekend when he showed a photograph of the Tigers' Brandon Inge to a Madonna University fundraiser crowd of several hundred and said, "This was Brandon Inge's last photo before he began whining about his playing time."

Then McLain tossed the photo to the ground and said when it landed, "it's the first time he's hit something in two years."

Terry wrote the crowd chuckled both times.
Pot, meet kettle

I wonder, though, how McLain would have liked it if Inge had been able to counter by saying, "This was Denny McLain's last photo before he (fill in the blank)."

What words would have been appropriate?

As for whining, it manifests itself in many forms, doesn't it?

I remember an athlete who was struggling toward the end of a turbulent 1970 season.

A once-great pitcher who was 3-5 at the time after winning 55 games the previous two years.

A pitcher who wasn't accustomed to being criticized or, worse yet, to not getting enough attention. So his last act as a Tiger, either on a dare or for a laugh, was to pour a bucket of water over two reporters.

And to get suspended by his team for it.

Before he got suspended by baseball for another matter.
Watch and learn, Denny

Brandon Inge wasn't whining, Denny. He still wants to play, that's all. He wants to play better than he has recently — just as you wanted to pitch better than when you were 3-5.

The way Inge has approached his decline is to work hard, get himself stronger after being weakened by mono last year, and to hope he'll be able, on a regular basis, to help the team for which he has played since 2001.

As befits your flamboyant personality, of course, you approached your decline differently.

Besides, considering Inge is 34 and in the final year of his contract, isn't he allowed to think about how the domino effect of signing Prince Fielder might shape his future?

Inge's career has been over-discussed through the years. He has supporters. He has detractors. For his various pluses and minuses, he deserves both.

This is not a defense of his performance.

This is, however, a defense of an individual who's not whining, hasn't whined, but was cheaply ridiculed in public for doing so by someone who's still pouring water over people for a laugh.

But it wasn't a bucket this time.

It was a photo McLain threw to the ground in an attempt to be funny.

That's ol' Denny, though, a real comedian.

Spare me.

tom.gage@detnews.com