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Sam McDowell
Samuel Edward Thomas McDowell (Sudden Sam)
All-Star Player
Bats: Left , Throws: Left
Height: 6' 5" , Weight: 218 lb.

Born: September 21, 1942 in Pittsburgh, PA
High School: Central Catholic (Pittsburgh, PA)
Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent in 1960. (All Transactions)
Debut: September 15, 1961
Final Game: June 24, 1975
    About biographical information

Standard Pitching

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Glossary · Click headers to sort · SHARE  · CSV · PRE · LINK · Click rows to sum (Clear) · Hide Partial Seasons
Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB Awards
1961 18 CLE AL 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 0 0 6.1 3 0 0 0 5 0 5 0 0 0 27 1.263 4.3 0.0 7.1 7.1 1.00
1962 19 CLE AL 3 7 .300 6.06 25 13 5 0 0 1 87.2 81 64 59 9 70 1 70 4 0 5 410 64 1.722 8.3 0.9 7.2 7.2 1.00
1963 20 CLE AL 3 5 .375 4.85 14 12 0 3 1 0 65.0 63 37 35 6 44 0 63 0 0 7 292 75 1.646 8.7 0.8 6.1 8.7 1.43
1964 21 CLE AL 11 6 .647 2.70 31 24 3 6 2 1 173.1 148 60 52 8 100 6 177 3 2 11 760 133 1.431 7.7 0.4 5.2 9.2 1.77
1965 22 CLE AL 17 11 .607 2.18 42 35 5 14 3 4 273.0 178 80 66 9 132 7 325 6 0 17 1116 161 1.136 5.9 0.3 4.4 10.7 2.46 AS,MVP-17
1966 23 CLE AL 9 8 .529 2.87 35 28 5 8 5 3 194.1 130 66 62 12 102 3 225 6 1 5 806 120 1.194 6.0 0.6 4.7 10.4 2.21 AS
1967 24 CLE AL 13 15 .464 3.85 37 37 0 10 1 0 236.1 201 112 101 21 123 3 236 7 0 18 1014 86 1.371 7.7 0.8 4.7 9.0 1.92
1968 25 CLE AL 15 14 .517 1.81 38 37 0 11 3 0 269.0 181 78 54 13 110 9 283 10 1 7 1098 165 1.082 6.1 0.4 3.7 9.5 2.57 AS
1969 26 CLE AL 18 14 .563 2.94 39 38 1 18 4 1 285.0 222 111 93 13 102 9 279 7 1 14 1166 127 1.137 7.0 0.4 3.2 8.8 2.74 AS
1970 27 CLE AL 20 12 .625 2.92 39 39 2 19 1 0 305.0 236 108 99 25 131 10 304 7 0 17 1257 134 1.203 7.0 0.7 3.9 9.0 2.32 AS,CYA-3,MVP-16
1971 28 CLE AL 13 17 .433 3.40 35 31 3 8 2 1 214.2 160 89 81 22 153 13 192 3 0 13 943 112 1.458 6.7 0.9 6.4 8.0 1.25 AS
1972 29 SFG NL 10 8 .556 4.33 28 25 1 4 0 0 164.1 155 86 79 12 86 6 122 6 0 11 718 81 1.467 8.5 0.7 4.7 6.7 1.42
1973 30 TOT MLB 6 10 .375 4.11 34 18 7 2 1 3 135.2 118 70 62 8 93 2 110 0 0 11 607 91 1.555 7.8 0.5 6.2 7.3 1.18
1973 30 SFG NL 1 2 .333 4.50 18 3 6 0 0 3 40.0 45 23 20 4 29 0 35 0 0 5 190 86 1.850 10.1 0.9 6.5 7.9 1.21
1973 30 NYY AL 5 8 .385 3.95 16 15 1 2 1 0 95.2 73 47 42 4 64 2 75 0 0 6 417 93 1.432 6.9 0.4 6.0 7.1 1.17
1974 31 NYY AL 1 6 .143 4.69 13 7 3 0 0 0 48.0 42 27 25 6 41 2 33 0 0 3 224 76 1.729 7.9 1.1 7.7 6.2 0.80
1975 32 PIT NL 2 1 .667 2.86 14 1 4 0 0 0 34.2 30 11 11 0 20 3 29 0 2 1 149 123 1.442 7.8 0.0 5.2 7.5 1.45
15 Seasons 141 134 .513 3.17 425 346 39 103 23 14 2492.1 1948 999 879 164 1312 74 2453 59 7 140 10587 112 1.308 7.0 0.6 4.7 8.9 1.87
162 Game Avg. 12 12 .513 3.17 37 31 3 9 2 1 220 172 88 78 14 116 7 216 5 1 12 934 112 1.308 7.0 0.6 4.7 8.9 1.87
W L W-L% ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO HBP BK WP BF ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB Awards
CLE (11 yrs) 122 109 .528 2.99 336 295 24 97 22 11 2109.2 1603 805 702 138 1072 61 2159 53 5 114 8889 119 1.268 6.8 0.6 4.6 9.2 2.01
SFG (2 yrs) 11 10 .524 4.36 46 28 7 4 0 3 204.1 200 109 99 16 115 6 157 6 0 16 908 82 1.542 8.8 0.7 5.1 6.9 1.37
NYY (2 yrs) 6 14 .300 4.20 29 22 4 2 1 0 143.2 115 74 67 10 105 4 108 0 0 9 641 86 1.531 7.2 0.6 6.6 6.8 1.03
PIT (1 yr) 2 1 .667 2.86 14 1 4 0 0 0 34.2 30 11 11 0 20 3 29 0 2 1 149 123 1.442 7.8 0.0 5.2 7.5 1.45
AL (13 yrs) 128 123 .510 3.07 365 317 28 99 23 11 2253.1 1718 879 769 148 1177 65 2267 53 5 123 9530 116 1.285 6.9 0.6 4.7 9.1 1.93
NL (3 yrs) 13 11 .542 4.14 60 29 11 4 0 3 239.0 230 120 110 16 135 9 186 6 2 17 1057 86 1.527 8.7 0.6 5.1 7.0 1.38

Standard Batting

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Year Age Tm Lg G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB Pos Awards
1961 18 CLE AL 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 -100 0 0 0 0 0 0 /1
1962 19 CLE AL 25 27 26 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 13 .154 .154 .154 .308 -15 4 0 0 1 0 0 1
1963 20 CLE AL 15 24 19 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 .211 .250 .211 .461 31 4 1 0 4 0 0 1
1964 21 CLE AL 31 64 56 2 8 1 0 0 2 0 0 5 25 .143 .213 .161 .374 7 9 0 0 3 0 0 1
1965 22 CLE AL 43 101 95 5 12 1 0 0 4 0 0 1 35 .126 .135 .137 .272 -22 13 0 0 5 0 0 1 AS,MVP-17
1966 23 CLE AL 36 65 60 2 12 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 27 .200 .210 .233 .443 28 14 0 0 3 1 0 1 AS
1967 24 CLE AL 37 88 82 5 15 1 0 1 6 0 0 1 28 .183 .190 .232 .422 23 19 1 0 4 1 0 1
1968 25 CLE AL 38 96 85 5 13 0 0 0 6 0 0 3 35 .153 .189 .153 .342 5 13 1 1 6 1 0 1 AS
1969 26 CLE AL 39 104 92 3 16 3 0 0 6 0 1 0 31 .174 .172 .207 .379 4 19 2 0 11 1 0 1 AS
1970 27 CLE AL 40 115 105 5 13 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 42 .124 .140 .152 .293 -20 16 0 0 8 0 0 1/34 AS,CYA-3,MVP-16
1971 28 CLE AL 35 80 73 1 13 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 26 .178 .189 .178 .367 1 13 0 0 6 0 0 1 AS
1972 29 SFG NL 28 64 59 3 7 1 1 0 4 0 0 1 21 .119 .133 .169 .303 -15 10 1 0 4 0 0 1
1973 30 TOT MLB 18 13 12 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 .167 .167 .333 -9 2 0 0 1 0 0 1
1973 30 SFG NL 18 13 12 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 .167 .167 .167 .333 -9 2 0 0 1 0 0 1
1975 32 PIT NL 14 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 .000 .000 .000 .000 -100 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
15 Seasons 400 851 774 34 119 7 2 2 36 0 1 16 299 .154 .171 .176 .347 -2 136 6 1 56 4 0
162 Game Avg. 162 345 313 14 48 3 1 1 15 0 0 6 121 .154 .171 .176 .347 -2 55 2 0 23 2 0
CLE (11 yrs) 340 766 695 30 110 6 1 2 32 0 1 15 273 .158 .176 .178 .355 1 124 5 1 51 4 0
SFG (2 yrs) 46 77 71 4 9 1 1 0 4 0 0 1 28 .127 .139 .169 .308 -14 12 1 0 5 0 0
PIT (1 yr) 14 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 .000 .000 .000 .000 -100 0 0 0 0 0 0
AL (13 yrs) 340 766 695 30 110 6 1 2 32 0 1 15 273 .158 .176 .178 .355 1 124 5 1 51 4 0
NL (3 yrs) 60 85 79 4 9 1 1 0 4 0 0 1 33 .114 .125 .152 .277 -23 12 1 0 5 0 0

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · SHARE  · CSV · PRE · LINK · Hide Partial Seasons
Year Tm Lg Age Pos G GS Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr Rtz Rtzrd Rtzhm Rdp RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards
1961 CLE AL 18 P 1 1 6.1 2 0 2 0 0 1.000 2.84 2.00 .950 1.99 0.80
1962 CLE AL 19 P 25 13 87.2 20 4 14 2 0 .900 1.85 0.72 .960 2.08 0.79
1963 CLE AL 20 P 14 12 65.0 11 4 7 0 0 1.000 1.52 0.79 .955 1.99 0.79
1964 CLE AL 21 P 31 24 173.1 29 7 20 2 1 .931 1.40 0.87 .959 1.90 0.72
1965 CLE AL 22 P 42 35 273.0 56 6 46 4 0 .929 1.71 1.24 .952 2.04 0.75 AS,MVP-17
1966 CLE AL 23 P 35 28 194.1 43 11 30 2 2 .953 1.90 1.17 .951 1.99 0.75 AS
1967 CLE AL 24 P 37 37 236.1 45 9 31 5 2 .889 1.52 1.08 .960 1.96 0.74
1968 CLE AL 25 P 38 37 269.0 44 10 30 4 7 .909 1.34 1.05 .959 1.89 0.73 AS
1969 CLE AL 26 P 39 38 285.0 48 5 39 4 5 .917 1.39 1.13 .952 1.88 0.69 AS
1970 CLE AL 27 P 39 39 305.0 42 3 35 4 1 .905 1.12 0.97 .952 1.86 0.67 AS,CYA-3,MVP-16
1970 CLE AL 27 1B 1 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0.00 0.00 9.45 8.10 AS,CYA-3,MVP-16
1970 CLE AL 27 2B 1 0 0.1 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 27.00 1.00 1.000 5.40 4.60 AS,CYA-3,MVP-16
1971 CLE AL 28 P 35 31 214.2 33 3 26 4 2 .879 1.22 0.83 .961 1.98 0.77 AS
1972 SFG NL 29 P 28 25 164.1 30 8 21 1 0 .967 1.59 1.04 .950 1.78 0.73
1973 TOT MLB 30 P 34 18 135.2 27 7 20 0 1 1.000 1.79 0.79 .948 1.87 0.79
1973 SFG NL 30 P 18 3 40.0 8 3 5 0 0 1.000 1.80 0.44 .950 1.89 0.73
1973 NYY AL 30 P 16 15 95.2 19 4 15 0 1 1.000 1.79 1.19 .947 1.86 0.86
1974 NYY AL 31 P 13 7 48.0 4 1 2 1 0 .750 0.56 0.23 .950 1.82 0.83
1975 PIT NL 32 P 14 1 34.2 6 1 5 0 2 1.000 1.56 0.43 .950 1.87 0.72
15 Seasons P 425 346 2492.1 440 79 328 33 23 .925 1.47 0.96 .955 1.92 0.74
1 Season 1B 1 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0.00 0.00 9.45 8.10
1 Season 2B 1 0 0.1 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 27.00 1.00 1.000 5.40 4.60
15 Seasons TOT 427 346 2493.1 441 80 328 33 23 .925 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 1.47 0.96 .880 1.93 0.77
Pos G GS Inn Ch PO A E DP Fld% Rtot Rtot/yr Rtz Rtzrd Rtzhm Rdp RF/9 RF/G lgFld% lgRF9 lgRFG Awards

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank, Glossary

All-Star Games
1965 *
1966
1968 *
1969 *
1970 *
1971

Awards (yr-lg-award)
1970-AL-TSN Pitcher of the Year

MVP (yr-lg-rk-shr)
1965-AL-17-2%
1970-AL-16-7%
0.09 Career Shares (918th)

Cy Young (yr-lg-rk-shr)
1970-AL--3--38%
0.38 Career Shares (114th)

Earned Run Average s c a p y
1964 AL--2.700--7th
1965 AL--2.176--1st
1966 AL--2.871--8th
1968 AL--1.807--2nd
1970 AL--2.921--5th
Career--3.174--234th

Wins s c a p y
1965 AL--17--4th
1969 AL--18--8th
1970 AL--20--5th

Win-Loss % s c a p y
1964 AL--.647--9th
1970 AL--.625--10th

Walks & Hits per IP s c a p y
1965 AL--1.136--10th
1969 AL--1.137--7th

Hits per 9 IP s c a p y
1964 AL--7.685--10th
1965 AL--5.868--1st
1966 AL--6.021--1st
1968 AL--6.056--3rd
1969 AL--7.011--6th
1970 AL--6.964--2nd
1971 AL--6.708--2nd
Career--7.034--10th

Strikeouts per 9 IP s c a p y
1964 AL--9.190--1st
1965 AL--10.714--1st
1966 AL--10.420--1st
1967 AL--8.987--2nd
1968 AL--9.468--1st
1969 AL--8.811--1st
1970 AL--8.971--1st
1971 AL--8.050--2nd
1972 NL--6.682--9th
Career--8.858--10th

Innings Pitched s c a p y
1965 AL--273.0--2nd
1967 AL--236.3--10th
1968 AL--269.0--5th
1969 AL--285.0--4th
1970 AL--305.0--1st
Career--2492.3--236th

Strikeouts s c a p y
1964 AL--177--8th
1965 AL--325--1st
1966 AL--225--1st
1967 AL--236--2nd
1968 AL--283--1st
1969 AL--279--1st
1970 AL--304--1st
1971 AL--192--7th
Career--2453--34th

Games Started s c a p y
1965 AL--35--8th
1967 AL--37--5th
1968 AL--37--3rd
1969 AL--38--5th
1970 AL--39--6th
Career--346--191st

Complete Games s c a p y
1965 AL--14--2nd
1968 AL--11--9th
1969 AL--18--3rd
1970 AL--19--2nd

Shutouts s c a p y
1965 AL--3--6th
1966 AL--5--1st
1969 AL--4--4th
Career--23--204th

Home Runs s c a p y
1967 AL--21--6th

Bases on Balls s c a p y
1964 AL--100--4th
1965 AL--132--1st
1966 AL--102--4th
1967 AL--123--1st
1968 AL--110--1st
1969 AL--102--6th
1970 AL--131--1st
1971 AL--153--1st
1972 NL--86--8th
Career--1312--30th

Hits s c a p y
1967 AL--201--9th

Strikeouts / Base On Balls s c a p y
1965 AL--2.462--8th
1969 AL--2.735--2nd
1970 AL--2.321--9th

Home Runs per 9 IP s c a p y
1964 AL--.415--3rd
1965 AL--.297--1st
1966 AL--.556--5th
1968 AL--.435--5th
1969 AL--.411--1st
1970 AL--.738--7th

Losses s c a p y
1967 AL--15--8th
1968 AL--14--8th
1969 AL--14--10th
1971 AL--17--2nd
Career--134--236th

Earned Runs s c a p y
1967 AL--101--1st

Wild Pitches s c a p y
1963 AL--7--9th
1964 AL--11--5th
1965 AL--17--1st
1967 AL--18--1st
1969 AL--14--5th
1970 AL--17--1st
1971 AL--13--3rd
1972 NL--11--3rd
Career--140--32nd

Hit By Pitch s c a p y
1965 AL--6--10th
1966 AL--6--6th
1967 AL--7--8th
1968 AL--10--6th
1969 AL--7--10th
1970 AL--7--9th
1972 NL--6--9th

Batters Faced s c a p y
1965 AL--1116--2nd
1967 AL--1014--9th
1968 AL--1098--4th
1969 AL--1166--4th
1970 AL--1257--1st
Career--10587--200th

Adjusted ERA+ s c a p y
1964 AL--133--7th
1965 AL--161--1st
1966 AL--120--8th
1968 AL--165--2nd
1969 AL--127--8th
1970 AL--134--3rd

Sacrifice Hits s c a p y
1969 AL--11--4th

Youngest s c a p y
1961 AL--born 1942-09-21--3rd

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Black InkPitching - 24 (49), Average HOFer ≈ 40
Gray InkPitching - 75 (161), Average HOFer ≈ 185
Hall of Fame MonitorPitching - 88 (121), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame StandardsPitching - 25 (202), Average HOFer ≈ 50

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores
Similar Pitchers 
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 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Joe Coleman (886)
  2. Chris Short (878)
  3. Al Leiter (877)
  4. Al Downing (876)
  5. Rudy May (872)
  6. Fernando Valenzuela (865)
  7. Johnny Vander Meer (864)
  8. Ray Sadecki (863)
  9. Mark Langston (859)
  10. Steve Rogers (857)
Most Similar by Ages 
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  1. Fred Hutchinson (973)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Dave McNally (980)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Bob Moose (952)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. Harry Harper (944)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  5. Curt Simmons (931)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  6. Dean Chance (928)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  7. Dean Chance (917)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  8. Fernando Valenzuela (919)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  9. Fernando Valenzuela (914)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  10. Nolan Ryan (931) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  11. Nolan Ryan (936) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  12. Nolan Ryan (917) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  13. Mark Langston (892)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
* - Signifies Hall of Famer
Similar Batters 
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 Compare Stats to Similars
  1. Joe Dobson (991)
  2. Curt Schilling (990)
  3. Johnny Vander Meer (986)
  4. Earl Hamilton (986)
  5. Cy Falkenberg (985)
  6. Bob Welch (984)
  7. Carl Erskine (983)
  8. Kirk Rueter (982)
  9. Ramon Martinez (982)
  10. Kirby Higbe (982)
Most Similar by Ages 
 View Player Links in Pop-up
 Hold mouse over #'s to see names
  1. Ken Holtzman (981)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  2. Bob Friend (985)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  3. Don Sutton (991) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  4. Don Sutton (985) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  5. Don Sutton (986) * 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  6. Guy Bush (987)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
  7. Jerry Reuss (987)  2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
* - Signifies Hall of Famer

Transactions

Before 1960 Season: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent.

November 29, 1971: Traded by the Cleveland Indians to the San Francisco Giants for Frank Duffy and Gaylord Perry.

June 7, 1973: Purchased by the New York Yankees from the San Francisco Giants.

December 20, 1974: Released by the New York Yankees.

April 2, 1975: Signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

June 26, 1975: Released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. Last transaction is September 30, 2009.

Other Resources & Links

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Viewed 98,790 times through November 11, 2009.
Name and misspellings: Samuel Edward Sudden Sam sammy samuel Thomas McDowell

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