Article:Players from the Past: "Sudden" Sam McDowell

Samuel Edward Thomas "Sam" McDowell



Born: September 21, 1942, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Height/Weight: 6'5", 218 Bats/Throws: Left/left ML Debut: September 15, 1961 Final Game: September 24, 1975 ML Teams: Cleveland Indians (1960-1971), San Francisco Giants (1972-1973), New York Yankees (1973-1974), Pittsburgh Pirates (1975).

In 1960, the Cleveland Indians signed Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania high school lefthander Sam McDowell for a six-figure bonus. Just over a year later, on September 15th, McDowell found himself on the mound in the major leagues, a week before his 19th birthday. Unusually tall for a pitcher,(6' 5") McDowell unleashed his near 100 mph fastball and the best slider in the game from a smooth, powerful delivery which eventually led to the nickname by which he is most remembered, "Sudden Sam". However, as was the case with Nolan Ryan, McDowell was plagued by control problems, as he led the league five times each in strikeouts and walks.

Over the next two seasons, McDowell found himself back and forth between the majors and minors, and between the rotation and the bullpen. In the spring of 1964, McDowell finally secured a spot in the Indians rotation, going 11-6 in 24 starts. In 1965, McDowell went 17-11, and struck out 325 batters in 273 innings and making the first of his six career All-Star appearances. The 1966 season was interrupted by a sore arm, yet McDowell managed to pitch 193 innings, a high total today. Beginning in 1968, McDowell appeared in four straight All-Star games through 1971, and put together an average record of 16-14 for a series of bad Cleveland teams whose average record during the span was 75-87.

In addition to his six All-Star (1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971) selections and his league leading strikeout and walk crowns, Sudden Sam was also an ERA champ (2.18 in 1965), a shutout leader (5 in 1965), and culminated his career in 1970, winning 20 games for the only time and being named "Pitcher of the Year" by The Sporting News.



Following the 1971 season, McDowell was traded to the San Francisco Giants in a swap of aces, with Gaylord Perry heading to Cleveland. The trade turned out to be a one-sided disaster, with McDowell posting the highest ERA in his career and Perry winning 24 games and the AL Cy Young Award.

As was customary in the days before the Players Association, teams felt it easier to dispatch a player with off-field problems than to deal with them. When he first reported to the Indians, McDowell was a shy 19 year old who had never experience the effects of alcohol. One night, after another high strikeout victory, a couple of the veterans took Sam out to celebrate. "One guy ordered a whiskey and soda, so did I", McDowell later recalled. "Another ordered a shot and a beer, so did I." "Another was drinking these fruity pink things, so I had some of those too." Thus began the life of an alcoholic.

McDowell swears he never drank the night before a game, "but I sure made up for it afterwards." Upon his trade to the Yankees, they assigned a coach to watch over him at night. "I used to get HIM drunk," McDowell recalled. Finally, in June 1975, battling on the field issues, (a shoulder injury) and his off-field boozing, the Pirates released McDowell, who subsequently disappeared, essentially excommunicated from the game at just 32 years of age.

Some players never achieve what their talent showed, and such was the case with Sam McDowell. McDowell had the talent to become a true great, a near 100 mph fastball, the best curve slider combination in the game, and a changeup almost as good. An notable example of his greatness and how he was percieved throughout baseball came in an early May, 1968 game in Cleveland against theOakland Athletics. Allowing just one hit,  a run-scoring triple to Reggie Jackson in a 3-1 win, McDowell struck out sixteen batters, including Jackson three times. Jackson later described facing McDowell thusly, "whoever taught him to throw a slider and curve was crazy. When he pitches, the entire team can play in the opposite field because nobody's going to pull him." In the A's dugout that night was their newly appointed coach Joe DiMaggio, who said, "I don't know if I've ever seen anyone faster."

Following his "retirement", the drinking increased, finally to the point where it cost him his marriage. His wife left him, taking their two children with her, leaving him desolate and broke. A failed business venture had left McDowell $190,000 in debt, and by early 1980 was living with his parents in his childhood home in Pittsburgh. An hard working insurance salesman by day, and a hard drinking drunk at night, his life was spinning farther and farther downward. One morning, in yet again another attempt to stave off the affects of a drinking binge, McDowell made himself a pot of coffee and sat on the sofa, where he remained, trancelike, for six hours. Repeating the phrase over and over, "You beat me, you beat me", he finally came to the realization he needed help. Later that day, he checked himself into a rehab center and began the second phase of his life, sobriety.



One of the first things McDowell did when he got out of rehab was call all his creditors with the promise to repay every penny he owed, which he eventually did. "My greatest accomplishment," he said. He also enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned associates degrees in sports psychology and addiction, eventually returning to the major leagues as a sports addiction counselor with the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers, and earning a World Series ring with the 1993 Blue Jays. McDowell also works as a consultant with the Baseball Assistance Team (BAT) and the Major League Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA).

In 2001, McDowell remarried, and also realized the fruition of a dream. "I had always thought former players needed their own retirement community", McDowell said. Working with the Alumni Association, McDowell became chairman and CEO at The City of Legends, a retirement resort in Clermont, Florida. "We have been in contact with the Alumni groups of all sports, not just baseball," McDowell said, "this place is for all of us." Many former players, umpires and executives in all sports now call City of Legends home.

McDowell doesn't need or seek adulation. He declines all requests to appear at autograph shows unless it's a MLB Alumni sponsored event. He declines all but a few interview requests. "I know what I had, and I know what I lost," McDowell told Jeff Pearlman of Sports Illustrated in one of his rare interviews, "but recovery has brought me to a new place, I regret nothing."

McDowell finished his career with 2,453 career strikeouts and an average of 8.86 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, which ranks him eighth all-time. His ratio of 7.03 hits allowed per nine innings places him ninth. He ranks fifth all time on the list of career ten or more strikeout games with 74. His 2159 strikeouts as an Indian place him second all time on their career list behind only the legendary Bob Feller. In his four All-Star appearances, (he didn't appear in the other two games), McDowell struck out twelve NL All-Stars over eight innings, and was the losing pitcher, (in relief) in the 1965 game.

For those of you, like me, who regularly peruse Baseball Reference, they have this tool called the Hall of Fame monitor. An admittedly incomplete reference, it is nonetheless an outstanding reference resource. Despite McDowell's off field issues which affected his career, and despite playing for teams who posted a winning percentage of .479, (McDowell's own career winning percentage was .513) the Baseball Reference HOF Monitor ranks McDowell as the 119th best pitcher of all time. McDowell ranks higher on the list than Hall of Famers Rube Marquard, Eppa Rixey and Ted Lyons, is two points higher than Dwight Gooden, and 27 points higher than Johan Santana.

A final note, the character of Sam Malone, the alcoholic ex-Red Sox pitcher portrayed by Emmy Award winning actor Ted Danson in the long running hit show "Cheers", was based on the baseball life of Sam McDowell. So the next time you're at home, channel surfing at 1 am, and come across a Cheers re-run, give it a watch, and remember for a minute "Sudden" Sam McDowell.

Sources:

www.associatedcontent.com Baseball Reference Sports Illustrated Jeff Pearlman The Cleveland Indians Baseball Club