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| Jack McDowell | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 McDowell atCamp As Sayliyah in 2007 | |||||||||||||||
| Pitcher | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1966-01-16)January 16, 1966 (age 60) Van Nuys, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| September 15, 1987, for the Chicago White Sox | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| August 8, 1999, for the Anaheim Angels | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Win–loss record | 127–87 | ||||||||||||||
| Earned run average | 3.85 | ||||||||||||||
| Strikeouts | 1,311 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Jack Burns McDowell (born January 16, 1966) is an American formerbaseball player. A right-handedpitcher, McDowell played for theChicago White Sox,New York Yankees,Cleveland Indians, andAnaheim Angels of theMajor League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Black Jack", he was a three-time All-Star and won theAmerican LeagueCy Young Award in 1993.
McDowell has also been a professional musician, most notably with the rock band stickfigure.
McDowell attendedNotre Dame High School[1] inSherman Oaks,California. He was drafted by theBoston Red Sox in the 20th round of the1984 MLB draft, but did not sign.
He chose to attendStanford University, where he was the co-Freshman of the Year in 1985, a second-team All-American in 1986 and a third-team All-American in 1987. He led theCardinal to the1987 College World Series championship.
McDowell was drafted by theChicago White Sox in the first round (fifth pick) of the1987 amateur draft. After only six games in the minor leagues, he made his Major League debut on September 15, 1987. He pitched seven shutout innings against theMinnesota Twins that day to pick up the win. In four starts, he was 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA.
In 1988, he was 5-10 with a 3.97 ERA in 26 starts for the White Sox, but in 1989, while dealing with various injuries he did not pitch in the Majors, making 16 starts for the AAAVancouver Canadians, where he was 5-6 with a 6.13 ERA.
By the early 1990s, he had established himself as one of the most dependable pitchers in the game, pitching effectively and recording over 250 innings each season from 1991 to 1993; he was selected to theMajor League Baseball All-Star Game each of those years. He won 20 games in 1992 and 22 in 1993, when he won theAmerican LeagueCy Young Award and led the White Sox to the postseason (they lost in the1993 American League Championship Series to theToronto Blue Jays). From 1988 until 1995, his seasonERA was consistently between 3.00 and 4.00, well below the league average.[2] In 1993, he set a modern (post-1950) record by recording a decision in each of his first 27 starts.[3]
After the 1994 season, McDowell was traded to theNew York Yankees for minor league pitcher Keith Heberling and outfielderLyle Mouton.[4] McDowell spent one season in New York with the Yankees, ending the season 15-10 with a 3.93 ERA in 30 starts. He was perhaps best known for givingthe finger to the fans at Yankee Stadium while being booed off the field after getting bombed by the White Sox on July 18, 1995, in the second game of a doubleheader.[5] McDowell was also the pitcher who gave up the walk-off, series-winninghit toEdgar Martínez in Game 5 of the1995 American League Division Series, scoringJoey Cora andKen Griffey Jr. to eliminate the Yankees from the playoffs and send the Seattle Mariners to theAmerican League Championship Series. This, coupled with the emergence ofAndy Pettitte who became the team's acethe following season, resulted in the Yankees not showing interest in bringing McDowell back for a second season; he thus was forced to enter free agency.
McDowell spent 1996–1997 with theCleveland Indians. In 1996, he was 13-9 with a 5.11 ERA in 30 starts, but in 1997 he made only six starts due to an injury, which may have been made worse by his trying to pitch through it. McDowell's injury resulted in the emergence of rookieJaret Wright.
He signed as a free agent with theAnaheim Angels in 1998 but was hampered with injuries during his time with the team. He was 5-7 with a 5.68 ERA in 18 starts over two seasons with Anaheim. He was released by the Angels after the 1999 season and retired from baseball.
On January 29, 2014, McDowell announced on hisFacebook page that he had been hired to manage theLos Angeles Dodgers Rookie League affiliate, theOgden Raptors, in thePioneer League. In 2015, he was named manager of theArizona League Dodgers.[6] The Dodgers dismissed him after the season.[7]
On March 2, 2017,Queens University of Charlotte, in Charlotte, North Carolina, announced that McDowell would be the head coach of its new baseball team. The team competed in its first season in 2018 as a club sport before entering Division II competition in 2019.[8] On March 27, 2020, Queens University announced that McDowell stepped down as the head coach.[9]
He has spent the 2021 summer season as the manager of the collegiate summer team theBurlington Sock Puppets.
During his baseball career, McDowell playedguitar in various groups in thealternative rock genre, usually performing during the off-season.
McDowell's first band, V.I.E.W., which consisted of him and fellow baseball playersLee Plemel andWayne Edwards, had two albums,Extendagenda andReplace the Mind. The band was formed in 1989 and disbanded in 1992. Their most notable accomplishment was touring withThe Smithereens in 1992.
His second band, stickfigure, consisted of McDowell,Michael Hamilton,Mike Mesaros andFrank Funaro. They produced the albumsJust a Thought,Feedbag,Ape of the Kings andMemonto Mori, before the group disbanded in 2003.[10]In November 1993, McDowell and Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder were involved in a barroom brawl in New Orleans, Louisiana that resulted in Vedder being arrested for public drunkenness and disturbing the peace.[11]
In 2008, musicians Scott McCaughey (ofThe Minus 5),Steve Wynn,Linda Pitmon, and Peter Buck formedThe Baseball Project to pay homage to America's greatest pastime. Their albumVolume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails contains the song "The Yankee Flipper", a tribute to their friend McDowell and a confession that a long night of drinking with the musicians may have led to the infamous finger to the crowd.
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