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"Sudden Sam" McDowell - RIP!
Steven59
Posts: 11,432 ✭✭✭✭✭
Former six-time MLB All-Star left-handed pitcher Sam McDowell, famously nicknamed "Sudden Sam" for his blazing fastball and calm delivery, passed away at the age of 84 on October 5, 2026.
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
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On-Field Baseball Achievements & Awards
• 6-time AL All-Star: Selected to the American League All-Star team in 1965, 1966, and four consecutive years from 1968 to 1971.
• 5-time AL Strikeout Leader: Led the league in strikeouts in 1965 (325), 1966 (225), 1968 (283), 1969 (279), and 1970 (304).
• 300-Strikeout Club Club: One of only nine pitchers in MLB history to record multiple 300-strikeout seasons. He was also the first modern-era pitcher to post a 300-strikeout season in fewer than 300 innings pitched (1965).
• AL ERA Leader (1965): Posted a career-best 2.18 Earned Run Average over 273 innings.
• The Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year (1970): Earned this honor during his lone 20-win season (20-12) where he also led the AL in innings pitched (305).
• Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame: Inducted in 2006. He still holds the Cleveland franchise record for career strikeouts per nine innings (9.21) and ranks second in total franchise strikeouts (2,159), trailing only Bob Feller.
• MLB Leader in Shutouts (1966): Led all of baseball with 5 shutouts.
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
That's a full career.
RIP.
RIP.
He was a good one on a staff that could never be matched with position players that scored enough runs to compete. Guys like Sonny Siebert, Louis Tiant, Dick Donovan that I remember from that era.
My Dad always referred to the Indians as “the Yankees Farm Team” back then because of all the trades. We listened to a lot of games, sitting on lawn chairs in the driveway with a little transistor radio tuned in, the voice of Jimmy Dudley describing the action.
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety," --- Benjamin Franklin
hate to see the old guard go
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
When these players die my mind goes to the image on their cards I used to have.
McDowell was, for reasons I didn't understood since we were in St. Louis, my brother's favorite player. We called her "Sammy", but our dog's official name was Samuel Edward Thomas McDowell. And we celebrated his birthday, complete with a cake. McDowell was robbed of the Cy Young in 1970, and if they had given a CYA for each league in 1965 he'd have won that one, too. A truly great pitcher, if only for a short time.
R.I.P.
Great pitcher during his peak. All those innings of flamethrowing eventually caught up with him.
All those innings of flamethrowing eventually caught up with him.
.
Well, sadly the passage of time is undefeated when catching up to people, :'(
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"