1967 Topps #420 Denny McLain
About Denny McLain
Johnny Sain arrived as Detroit's pitching coach in 1967 to reshape McLain's delivery and his thinking, but the year ended sourly: 17-16 with a 3.79 ERA and not one win after August 29, plus two badly injured toes on his left foot in September. Detroit needed the finale to force a playoff with Boston; McLain pitched ineffectively and a four-team race ended with the Tigers a game short. Card #235 is a third-series League Leaders card shared with Jim Kaat and teammate Earl Wilson; #420 comes from the fifth series.
Dennis Dale McLain signed with the Chicago White Sox out of Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago in 1962, only for the Detroit Tigers to claim him on waivers the following April. He reached Detroit on September 21, 1963 at the age of 19 and homered in his major-league debut, the only home run he would ever hit. He became a workhorse right-hander through the mid-1960s, leaning on a heavy fastball that also made him easy to take deep; he led the American League in home runs allowed three straight years. His signature season came in 1968, when he went 31-6 with a 1.96 ERA to become the last pitcher to win 30 games in a season, taking both the American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player honors as Detroit won the World Series. A second straight Cy Young followed in 1969, shared with Baltimore's Mike Cuellar. McLain was a three-time All-Star, in 1966, 1968 and 1969. Suspensions, gambling troubles and a worn-out arm then undid him: traded to the Washington Senators in October 1970, he lost 22 games in 1971 and finished with Oakland and Atlanta in 1972, out of baseball by 1973. He retired 131-91 with a 3.39 ERA and 1,282 strikeouts over ten seasons.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 513 | 5 | 56 | 194 | 135 | 57 | 35 | 31 | 0 |
| SGC | 47 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. PSA registers a row for every one of the 624 states; SGC lists no separate row for the #149 white-streak state.
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Related cards
More Denny McLain in this set: #235 League Leaders
Team card: #378 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #13 Joe Sparma
- #30 Al Kaline
- #48 Bill Freehan
- #72 Tigers 1967 Rookie Stars
- #88 Mickey Lolich
- #112 Dave Wickersham
- #134 Gates Brown
- #170 Dick McAuliffe
- #192 Fred Gladding
- #216 Bengal Belters
- #235 American League 1966 Pitching Leaders
- #237 American League 1966 Strikeout Leaders
- #239 American League 1966 Batting Leaders
- #247 Jerry Lumpe
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1967 Topps #420 card?
It is card #420 of the 609-card 1967 Topps Baseball set, picturing Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers.
How many cards are in the 1967 Topps Baseball set?
609 cards, tracked as 624 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 609 without a gap - no number was skipped and none was used twice - and 15 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, Baseball Almanac, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-12.