Sam McDowell, the hard-throwing lefty known across baseball as “Sudden Sam,” died on Monday night at 84, according to the Cleveland Guardians.
McDowell built a career that stretched from 1961 through 1975 and took him from Cleveland to San Francisco, New York and Pittsburgh. In 15 major league seasons, he finished with a 141-134 record, 2,453 strikeouts and six All-Star selections. He also led MLB in strikeouts five times, doing it in 1965, 1966 and then three straight seasons from 1968 through 1970.
The Yankees acknowledged his death on social media, writing, “The Yankees mourn the passing of Sam McDowell and extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.”
Born in Pittsburgh on Sept. 21, 1942, McDowell was one of six siblings. He entered pro baseball as the country’s top high school prospect, and the Indians beat out 14 other teams to sign him with a $75,000 bonus, according to his SABR biography.
Before he left for spring training with Cleveland in 1962, McDowell married his high school sweetheart, Carol Beisgen. The SABR account says they had two children, Debbie and Tim, and that Tim later had a brief minor-league pitching career in the Pittsburgh organization from 1988 to 1991.
MLB also paid tribute on social media, noting, “Nicknamed ‘Sudden Sam,’ McDowell spent his first 11 seasons with Cleveland from 1961-71,“ and pointing to the peak years that made him such a force. In 1965, he struck out a career-best 325 batters and posted a league-leading 2.18 ERA.
His best all-around season came in 1970, when he won a career-high 20 games, struck out 304 hitters and logged a career-high 305 innings. That year, he finished third in Cy Young Award voting.
McDowell wrapped up his career with the Pirates in 1975 after stops with the Giants and Yankees. After baseball, he worked as a Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Consultant and served on the Board of Directors for the Baseball Assistance Team, or B.A.T.
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