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| - Samuel Edward Thomas "Sam" McDowell (born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball, playing his first 11 seasons for the Cleveland Indians before a 1971 trade to the San Francisco Giants and subsequent stints with the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates. Tall (6 feet, 5 inches) and powerful, his left-handed fastball was delivered with an unusually calm pitching motion which led to his memorable nickname: "Sudden Sam." His strikeout prowess was sometimes nullified by periodic control problems. In 1960, McDowell signed with the Indians for a six-figure bonus. He appeared in his first big league game a year later, one week before his 19th birthday. After struggling over the next two seasons, McDowell became a starting pitcher in 1964 and became a workhorse over the next eight seasons. He tossed over 200 innings in seven of those years and ranked among the American League's leaders in strikeouts. To date, his 2159 strikeouts trail only Bob Feller's 2581 among Indian pitchers. He twice exceeded 300 K's in a season, including 325 in 1965—second in franchise history to only Feller's 348 in 1946. A six-time All-Star (1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971), McDowell was also the league leader in ERA and strikeouts in 1965, led in strikeouts and shutouts in 1966 and led the league in strikeouts again in 1968 and 1969. In 1970, he put together his best season, when he was named "Pitcher of the Year" by The Sporting News, once again leading in strikeouts while winning 20 games for the first and only time of his career.
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