10/07/2026
"Sudden Sam" McDowell, 6x All-Star, 5x AL strikeout leader, dies at age 83.
Sam McDowell, a flamethrowing lefty whose career flamed out due to a battle with the bottle, died yesterday at the age of 83.
McDowell pitched for the Cleveland Indians (1961-1971), San Francisco Giants (1972-1973), New York Yankees (1973-1974) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1975).
When McDowell was traded for Ga***rd Perry, it was a big deal. McDowell was just 29 years old, a 6x All-Star, had led the AL in strikeouts 5x. The Giants had just won the NL West in 1971, before losing to the Pirates in the NLCS. Juan Marichal was getting up in years, having just turn 34 at the end of October. Perry had just turned 33. Willie Mays was 40 and would be dealt to the Mets the following May. Willie McCovey was 33 and had missed 1/3 of the 1971 season with knee problems. The acquisition of McDowell was supposed to set the Giants up for the future.
Instead, it set them back. McCovey turned 34, missed half the 1972 season with injury and only hit .213. Perry won the CYA with Cleveland, going 24-16, 1.92, leading the AL in ERA, WAR and CG, and finishing 6th in CYA. Perry would go on to win the CYA again with San Diego six years later while on his way to over 300 wins and the Hall of Fame.
McDowell had a drinking problem. He went 10-8, 4.33. His career was about to go downhill.
Let’s backtrack.
In 1961 he made his MLB debut six days short of his 19th birthday. In 6 1/3 innings, he gave up no runs, three hits, walked five and struck out five. He had to leave the game because he broke two ribs throwing a pitch.
The following two years were a learning curve. 3-7, 6.06 in 1962 in 25 games, 13 of them starts. 3-5, 4.85 in 1963 in 14 games, 12 of them starts.
Then in 1964, at the age of 21, he started showing the promise. In 31 games, 24 of them starts, he went 11-6, 2.70. He led MLB with 9.2 K/9 IP. More than even Koufax. 177 K in 173 1/3 IP. But he also was wild, walking 100. This would continue. From 1964-1971, McDowell would average 14.5-12, 2.81, 244 IP, 253 K, but also 119 walks a year.
McDowell came into his own in 1965, leading AL pitchers in WAR, ERA (2.18), strikeouts (325), ERA+ 161, FIP, H/9, least HR per 9, he led MLB in K/9 despite Koufax, who struck out 382 that year. He also led the AL in WP and MLB in walks (132). He went 17-11, got his first All-Star nod, taking the loss in the All-Star game, and finished 17th in MVP voting. There was no AL CYA voting, since there was only one CYA at that time, and that went to Koufax.
1966, and a lot of no-decisions as McDowell went 9-8, 2.87 in 35 games, 28 of them starts. He had some arm trouble, but of his nine wins, five of them were by shutout, and those five shutouts led the majors. Despite the reduced time, he still led the AL in strikeouts (225) and MLB in least H/9 and most K/9 while getting his second All-star nod.
In 1967 Sam went 13-15, 3.85. It was the only year between 1965 and 1971 in which he did NOT make the All-Star team. He led the AL in WP and earned runs given up, and MLB in walks (123).
1968 was the “Year of the Pitcher”. McDowell went 15-14, 1.81, leading MLB with 283 strikeouts, and K/9 but also leading MLB with 110 walks. His 3rd All-Star selection. His ERA was second in the league to his teammate, Luis Tiant, who had a 1.60.
1969 saw an 18-14, 2.94 mark from McDowell, with 279 strikeouts to lead MLB. He led MLB in FIP. He led the AL in K/9 and least HR per 9. 4th All-Star selection.
1970 saw McDowell become a 20-game winner for the only time in his career, going 20-12 with a 2.92 ERA. Fifth All-Star Selection. The only time in his career he got CYA consideration, finishing 3rd (Jim Perry of the Twins won, getting six first place votes and 55 points. Dave McNally of the Orioles got five first place votes and 47 points, McDowell four first place votes and 45 points, and Mike Cuellar of the Orioles six first place votes and 44 points). McDowell also finished 16th in MVP voting. He led the AL in WAR, and also in IP (305). He led the majors in strikeouts (304). He also led MLB in walks (131). He led the AL in WP and FIP. He led the majors in K/9. The Sporting News named him AL Pitcher of the Year.
From Wikipedia: McDowell held out during spring training in 1971, hoping for a six-figure contract (My note: $100,000 in 1971. Think about that compared to the salaries of today). The contract he did sign was VOIDED (caps mine) by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn because it contained illegal incentive clauses, and McDowell decided to leave the team again. He eventually returned to the team, only to be suspended again later in the season (hence the trade after the season).
His record slipped to 13-17, 3.40, and he led the majors with 153 walks. He still made the All-Star team for the sixth and final time.
Then came the demand for a trade, and the 10-8, 4.33 season of 1972 noted above with San Francisco.
McDowell contemplated retirement(!) during the offseason due to persistent back and neck pains, but felt better after treatment and returned to the team. He was sent to the bullpen to start the 1973 season. On June 7, he was sold to the Yankees in a straight cash deal.
In 1973, the Yankees were playing their last season in the Original Stadium before it would be renovated. The following two seasons would be in Shea, shared with the Mets, before returning back to a renovated Stadium in 1976. The Yankees started slow in 1973 but got hot in the summer, and in early August were in first place in the AL East. With the addition of McDowell and Pat Dobson, who had won 20 games in 1971 for the Orioles, Bobby Murcer, the young star of the Yankees, thought they were on their way.
It didn’t work out that way. Dobson did win 19 for the Yanks in 1974, going 19-15. But Murcer was remembering the McDowell before he went to the Giants. He probably thought 1972 was just an off year. Murcer saw McDowell up close. In July of 1970, Murcer homered in the ninth inning of a Game 1 doubleheader off McDowell. Then Murcer homered the first three times he came up in the second game of the doubleheader. Four straight homers spread over two games. That was the McDowell Murcer was remembering.
But that was not the McDowell Murcer and the Yankees were getting. He was moved back into the starting rotation for the Yankees, and he started off great, winning five of his first six starts, hence Murcer’s enthusiasm, but he didn’t win another game after that, and the Yankees who were in first place in early August of 1973 finished under .500 at 80-82. In 16 games with the Yanks that year, 15 of them starts, McDowell was 5-8, 3.95. Overall, with the Yanks and Giants, he was 6-10, 4.11 in 34 games, 18 of them starts.
As far as his Yankees games and Murcer’s enthusiasm? Those first six starts? McDowell was 5-1, 1.55. June 17 to July 20. July 29 to the end of the season when the Yankees collapsed down the stretch? 10 games, 9 starts. 0-7, 5.73 ERA. That says it all.
1974, and a slipped disc cost McDowell two months of the season. He was used sparingly, pitching in only 13 games, 7 starts and pitched poorly, 1-6, 4.69. On September 13, he left the team, and after the season asked for and was granted his release.
In 1975, McDowell didn’t sign a contract until almost Opening Day, finally latching on with the Pirates after having to fight for a job during spring training. He returned to the bullpen. In 14 games, one start, he went 2-1, 2.86, but the Pirates still released him at the end of June and McDowell’s MLB career was over before he turned 33.
He was 141-134 in his career with an ERA of 3.17. An ERA+ of 112, with 2453 strikeouts. He hit .154 with 2 HR.
Baseball-reference.com ranks him as the 146th best starting pitcher of all-time.
That 1970 season? At the end of it, he had only turned 28. If only he’d pitched for a better team than Cleveland and had stayed off the booze, with ten more years of what he was doing, what if? (Better control would have helped too, but…)
McDowell’s career was hampered by alcoholism. Per Wikipedia: After his career ended, his drinking increased, costing him his marriage. His wife left him, taking the children with her, leaving him desolate and broke. A failed business venture left him $190,000 in debt, and by early 1980 McDowell was living with his parents at his childhood home in Pittsburgh while selling insurance. Eventually he checked himself into rehab.
After repaying his debts, he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned associate degrees in sports psychology and addiction. Eventually he returned to the majors as a sports addiction counselor with the Blue Jays and Rangers, winning a World Series ring with the 1993 Blue Jays. He also worked as a consultant with the Baseball Assistance Team (BAT) and the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA). He eventually remarried and started a retirement community for former players.
The character of Sam Malone, the alcoholic ex-Red Sox pitcher portrayed by Ted Danson in the TV show Cheers was based on the baseball life of McDowell.
He straightened himself out, thankfully, in order to help others. May he rest in peace.
