Denny McLain Walks Out of Tampa Court a Free Man

Former pitching star Denny McLain was ordered released on 5 years’ probation Thursday because of time already served on racketeering and drug convictions.

McLain, major league baseball’s last 30-game winner, pleaded guilty in October to avoid a retrial on the charges after an appeals court threw out his original conviction. He had already served 29 months of a 23-year sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich in the original case.

Thursday, Kovachevich gave McLain a 12-year sentence but ordered him released on probation because of time spent in jail.

“I screwed up; I’m sorry,” McLain told the judge during an emotional 3 1/2-hour hearing.

“Whatever I did, I did. I’ve said I’m sorry and agreed to the plea agreement. I don’t know what else to say. I can only live from day to day and do what’s expected of me.”

The two-time Cy Young Award winner hugged family members after Kovachevich announced her decision that additional prison time was unnecessary.

“We’re elated--it’s an early Christmas present,” said McLain, accompanied by his wife and 4 children. “I had no idea what to expect. I’m just going to try to get on with the rest of my life.”

Ernst Muell, assistant U.S. attorney, said the judge “did what she felt was proper.”

McLain, 44, maintained his innocence but pleaded guilty to racketeering and cocaine dealing Oct. 18 under a plea bargain in which the government recommended the 12-year maximum.

During the emotional hearing, McLain’s wife, Sharyn, said: “If he had not changed, if he was the same man he was when he went into prison, I wouldn’t be standing here today. You may have done us a big favor by taking him from us at the time you did.”

McLain was convicted in March 1985 and served 29 months before a ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Atlanta freed him from the Federal Correctional Institution at Talladega, Ala.

McLain criticized Kovachevich’s handling of the trial in his recently published book, “Strikeout,” accusing her of trying to publicly humiliate him and conducting a personal vendetta against him by denying bail during his appeal.

Thursday, the judge stipulated that probation officers approve McLain’s business associates and that McLain make revisions to his book to reflect his guilty plea.

“It’s about time you start getting things truthfully in order,” Kovachevich said. “You may find the catharsis enjoyable.”