Tribe fans had little to get excited about in the doldrums years between their two World Series appearances in 1954 and 1995 and few players to embrace, but from 1961 through 1971, they knew they would get a show and a great chance to win at least once every five games.
While the Indians would finish with a record above .500 just twice in during the tenure of Sam McDowell (a peak of 87 wins in 1965 and a third place finish in 1968), that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the greatest pitchers in team history and maintaining that dominance for most of a decade.
McDowell was originally signed as an amateur in 1960 out of high school in Pittsburgh and after about 280 innings in two minor league seasons, he made his debut in the Majors as a September call-up in 1961 at the age of 18 (he would turn 19 a week later). While he pitched only the one game in 1961 (a 6.1 inning shut out of the Twins), it was a window into the future and, after working his way through AAA and the Majors for the next two seasons, he became a permanent fixture in the rotation in 1964.
After the 1956 season, the Indians never had two great pitchers in the same season and rarely did a pitcher repeat a good performance from one year to the next. That all changed in 1964 with the addition of McDowell. While Jack Kralick had his second solid season, Luis Tiant, a Cuban signed out of the Mexican Leagues in 1962, would make his debut with a solid season as well. This gave the Indians three reliable starters, something they would improve upon more the following season.
For McDowell and Tiant, it was a breakout year. Sudden Sam pitched 173.1 innings, his first full season, making 24 starts with a 2.70 ERA. In his first, partial seasons, he hadn’t been too much of a dominant strike out pitcher and had issues with control, but he worked on both of these in 1964 and struck out a league best 9.2 per nine and lowered his BB/9 to a more reasonable 5.2. He would go on to lead the AL in K/9 in five of the next six seasons (all but 1967) and strike out at least one batter per inning for five of six as well (all but 1969).
If he made his name known in 1964, McDowell made an argument for being one of the best pitchers in baseball in 1965. He lead the AL in ERA with a 2.18 mark while allowing the fewest hits and home runs per inning. He still walked a lot of batters, although he lowered his rate to 4.4, but he struck out more than ever, K’ing a league best 325. This was a number he would never reach again (the same is true for his 10.7 K/9 that year) and the second highest total in Indians history for a single year. While he wasn’t able to surpass Bob Feller‘s mark from 1946, Feller threw 100 more innings that year, the most in franchise history. There is no question that this was the single greatest season for a power pitcher in Indians history. In fact, of the 867 pitchers to appear in a game for the Indians (as of the end of 2016), only 75 struck out 325 in their entire career with the team.
For his efforts, he went to the All-Star game (his first of six) and finished 17th in the MVP vote, fourth among pitchers despite leading all AL pitchers with a 7.9 WAR (Zoilo Versalles actually won the award with a WAR of 7.2). Despite his efforts, the Indians finished below .500 and seventh in the ten team American League.
McDowell was just getting started, however. For an encore, he lead the AL in K’s again in 1966 (despite striking out exactly 100 less than the previous season) as well as shut outs (5) and went to his second All-Star game. Despite the five shut outs, McDowell won just nine games this year as a poor offense and porous bullpen kept him to just 17 total decisions after winning 17 games the year before.
Back in 1965 Sonny Siebert had become a regular in the rotation and Steve Hargan followed him in 1966. This gave the Indians four dominant starters in 1966 (McDowell had the worst ERA at 2.87) and their best rotation since the early 1950’s. This group would stay together through 1968 and would be the reason the team went from allowing 737 runs in 1961 to allowing 516 in 1968.
The 1967 season would be a slight step back for McDowell, posting his first losing record in a full season and a 3.85 ERA while all his three colleagues sat under 2.75. Still he struck out 9 per 9, but he missed the All-Star game for the only time between 1965 and 1971 and lead the league in two negative stats, earned runs allowed and walks (the second of five times he would do so).
Then, the year of the pitcher came. Never since the deadball era and never again would there be so many dominant pitchers than in 1968 to the point that they had to lower the mound to reassure hitters that they wouldn’t forever be at a disadvantage. Bob Gibson won the NL Cy Young with an incredible 1.12 ERA (best since 1914, 4th best ever since 1880) and McDowell and Tiant matched him with marks below 2.00. Tiant’s season that year was one of the best in Indians history, but McDowell impressed in his own right, leading the league in strike outs again (this time with 283, currently 4th most in Indians history). He returned to the All-Star Game again that year (Tiant started the game) and threw a scoreless inning with three strike outs. As a team, despite finishing 16.5 games out of first behind Detroit, the third place finish would be the best for any Indians team from 1993 despite moving into a smaller division in 1969.
While expansion increased offenses throughout the league, this didn’t directly effect McDowell or other elite pitchers, who now had the opportunity to face hitters who weren’t good enough to be in the league the year before. Sudden Sam responded by leading the league in K’s again, this time with 279 and keeping a solid 2.94 ERA (his 2.29 FIP lead the AL). Even as offense continued to increase in 1970, McDowell improved, winning 20 games for the first time with an ERA of 2.92 and 304 more strike outs. This number surpassed all, but his 1965 season and gave him four of the Indians top five strike out seasons ever. With few other pitchers maintaining their success at this level, McDowell finished third in Cy Young voting (losing to former Indians starter Jim Perry) and 16th for the AL MVP.
While Feller is generally known as the Indians best pitcher ever, this has a lot to do with his longevity. While McDowell’s alcoholism kept him from playing 20 seasons in Cleveland, his peak was as good as any pitcher ever. His seasons from 1964 through 1970 accounted for 1,829 strike outs (only Feller had more in his career), a 103-80 record and a 2.73 ERA. All this occurred before McDowell turned 28, heading into what should have been the peak of his career.
Unfortunately, the story ends there. In 1971, battling his addiction, he threw a 3.40 ERA, walked 153 and struck out just 192. At the age of 28, McDowell’s best years had been used up and he was traded at the end of the season for Frank Duffy and Gaylord Perry in what was a rare, successful deal for the Tribe. Perry would fill in perfectly in McDowell’s role, becoming the team’s ace and best pitcher through 1974 including a Cy Young winning season in 1972.
On the other side, McDowell would pitch poorly for San Francisco, leading to his being sold to New York, then released. He would try to come back with Pittsburgh, but would ultimately end his playing career at the age of 32.
Although his stats would seem to make him a border-line Hall of Famer, he did not receive any votes in his single year of eligibility. He may have been harmed by the outstanding talent on the ballot that year (it featured eleven future Hall of Famers, including Bob Gibson, who was the only player to be inducted that year), but the voters obviously did not feel he deserved a second chance. Despite this, he was the best left handed pitcher in Indians history by a large margin and one of the top three, along with Addie Joss and Feller considering all hurlers. He still ranks in the top ten in total starts, and innings pitched while remaining second in strike outs, K/9 and H/9 among retired pitchers with at least 300 innings.
McDowell was inducted into the Indians Hall of Fame (class of 2006), however and will get one more chance at the Hall when his name appears on the Veteran’s Committee ballot. McDowell currently lives in a retirement community that he created for former baseball players called the City of Legends in Florida.
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