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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

More Stats

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

More Stats

Glossary · Click headers to sort · SHARE  · CSV · PRE · LINK · Click rows to sum (Clear)
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 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
16 Seasons 400 851 774 34 119 7 2 2 36 0 1 16 306 .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 6 124 .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

Hall of Fame
1981 BBWAA ()

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 (926th)

Cy Young (yr lg (rk, shr))
1970 AL (3, 38%)
0.38 Career Shares (117th)

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 - 32 (47), Average HOFer ≈ 40
Gray InkPitching - 115 (166), Average HOFer ≈ 185
Hall of Fame MonitorPitching - 90 (120), 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 
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 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 99,355 times through December 22, 2009.
Name and misspellings: Samuel Edward Sudden Sam sammy samuel Thomas McDowell

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