McLain Gets a Quick Read on Prison Life

In a phone call with Joe Falls of the Detroit News, Denny McLain, the former Detroit Tiger pitcher, told of his life in the Westchester County Jail just north of New York City.

“It’s not easy. At first, it’s hard to sleep. You never really get used to it. So what I’ve learned to do is read. I read everything.

“I read all day long and into the night. I’ve read all of Stephen King’s novels, the whole Lonesome Dove series, Robert Ludlum . . . anything I can get my hands on. I’d say I’ve been reading a complete novel every two days, and some are 800 and 900 pages long.”

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More McLain: A 31-game winner for the Tigers in 1968, he is in prison for the second time since leaving baseball.

The latest sentence resulted from a scam involving fraudulent telephone calling cards. McLain says he was wrongly convicted.

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Trivia time: Who holds the NFL record for touchdowns in a season?

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Wrong message: Fox TV’s Tim Green repeatedly said during the Raider-Redskin game last Sunday that Oakland’s Jeff George “needs to get his rhythm back.”

Comment from Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post: “Timmy, he’s a quarterback, not one of the Temptations.”

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Bully for you: Boris Mironov, Russian-born defenseman for the Edmonton Oilers, on playing 32 minutes on an injured ankle: “I had to play. I’m almost Canadian. Canadians play hurt.”

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The untouchables: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “Can’t say I blame them: The World Wrestling Federation is paying more than the normal fee of $1.6 million for a 30-second Super Bowl ad, according to Adweek, because other advertisers don’t want their commercials anywhere near it.”

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What, no Spam? From comedy writer Alex Kaseberg: “A holiday food drive is underway to support the locked-out NBA players. Items urgently needed include Grey Poupon mustard, French champagne, Beluga caviar and goose liver pate.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1945, Doc Blanchard of Army, “Mr. Inside,” became the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy. He also became the first athlete to win both the Heisman and Sullivan awards. Charlie Ward of Florida State also won both in 1993.

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Trivia answer: Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys, 25, all rushing, in 1995.

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And finally: The Sun, a London tabloid, ran a front-page story Tuesday saying Nick Faldo, a three-time winner of both the British Open and Masters, has a new girlfriend, Valerie Bercher, a 25-year-old Swiss public relations executive.

The Sun also reported that after Faldo broke up with his American girlfriend, Brenna Cepelak, in October, she took a golf club to his Porsche, causing $16,500 in damage.