Cy Young Profile: Jack McDowell, 1993

Pitcher, Chicago White Sox

Age:  27

5^th season with White Sox

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’5”    Weight: 180

Prior to 1993:

A native of Van Nuys, California, McDowell played football, basketball, and soccer in addition to baseball as a youth. Following high school, he turned down an offer from the Boston Red Sox, who made him a low-round selection in the 1984 amateur draft, and instead attended Stanford University, where he was a second-team All-American in 1986, and third-team in 1987, a year in which Stanford won the College World Series. Chosen by the White Sox in the first round of the ’87 amateur draft (fifth overall) he signed for a $175,000 bonus. McDowell pitched in four games with Birmingham of the Class AA Southern League and the 21-year old was then called up to the White Sox in September where he started another four games and went 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA. He struggled as a rookie in 1988, starting 26 games and posting a 5-10 record with a 3.97 ERA. Following a poor spring performance in 1989, McDowell was demoted to Vancouver of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League where he went 5-6 with a 6.13 ERA. Returning to the White Sox in 1990 he abandoned his slider and relied on a split-fingered fastball and curve to good effect. He compiled a 14-9 record with a 3.82 ERA and 165 strikeouts. He also became known for outspokenness and feuding with the front office. Highly competitive and with an intimidating mound presence that resulted in his being bestowed with the nickname “Black Jack” McDowell followed up with a fine 17-10 performance in 1991 along with a 3.41 ERA, 191 strikeouts, and league-leading 15 complete games. Along the way he was also named as an All-Star for the first time. An unorthodox athlete who played with a rock band on the side, McDowell produced a 20-10 record in 1992 with a 3.18 ERA and league-high 13 complete games and finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting.

1993 Season Summary

Appeared in 34 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 34

Games Started – 34 [6, tied with ten others]

Complete Games – 10 [3, tied with Randy Johnson]

Wins – 22 [1]

Losses – 10

PCT - .688 [7]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 4 [1]

Innings Pitched – 256.2 [2]

Hits – 261 [2]

Runs – 104 [19, tied with John Doherty, Tim Leary & Fernando Valenzuela]

Earned Runs – 96 [16]

Home Runs – 20

Bases on Balls – 69

Strikeouts – 158 [13]

ERA – 3.37 [11]

Hit Batters – 3

Balks – 1

Wild Pitches – 8 [14, tied with twelve others]

League-leading wins were +3 ahead of runners-up Randy Johnson & Pat Hentgen

League-leading shutouts were +1 ahead of runners-up Randy Johnson, Mike Moore & Kevin Brown

Midseason Snapshot: 13-6, ERA - 3.88, SO - 75 in 141.2 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 10 (in 9 IP) at Minnesota 8/22

10+ strikeout games – 1

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 9 IP) at Seattle 8/1

Fielding

Chances – 69

Put Outs – 23

Assists – 43

Errors – 3

DP – 2

Pct. - .957

Postseason Pitching:

G – 2 (ALCS vs. Toronto)

GS – 2, CG – 0, Record – 0-2, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 9, H – 18, R – 10, ER – 10, HR – 1, BB – 5, SO – 5, ERA – 10.00, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 1

Awards & Honors:

AL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

AL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

9^th in AL MVP voting (51 points, 13% share)

AL Cy Young voting (Top 5):

Jack McDowell, ChiWS.: 116 pts. – 21 of 28 first place votes, 89% share

Randy Johnson, Sea.: 75 pts. – 6 first place votes, 54% share

Kevin Appier, KC: 30 pts. – 1 first place vote, 21% share

Jimmy Key, NYY.: 14 pts. – 10% share

Duane Ward, Tor.: 5 pts. – 4% share

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White Sox went 94-68 to finish first in the AL Western Division by 8 games over the Texas Rangers. The pitching staff led the league in ERA (3.70) & fewest runs allowed (664). The White Sox moved into first place to stay on July 7, and paced by young starting pitchers McDowell, RHP Alex Fernandez, LHP Wilson Alvarez & RHP Jason Bere, coasted to the AL West title. Lost ALCS to the Toronto Blue Jays, 4 games to 2.

Aftermath of ‘93:

McDowell dropped to 10-9 with a 3.73 ERA in the strike-shortened 1994 season. Traded to the New York Yankees in the offseason, he was 15-10 in 1995 with a 3.93 ERA and AL-leading 8 complete games although he was hindered by a sore back in the season’s latter stages. Departing as a free agent, he moved on to the Cleveland Indians in 1996 where he missed time due to an arm injury and finished at 13-9 with a 5.11 ERA and 141 strikeouts. Limited to six starts in 1997 due to a sore elbow that required surgery he was just 3-3 with a 5.09 ERA. With the Anaheim Angels in 1998 and ’99 “Black Jack” endured two bleak injury-marred seasons and retired. Overall for his major league career, which was highlighted by the three-season period from 1991-93, McDowell posted a 127-87 record with a 3.85 ERA, 62 complete games, and 1311 strikeouts over 1889 innings pitched. With the White Sox he was 91-58 with a 3.50 ERA, 49 complete games, and 918 strikeouts over 1343.2 innings. In five postseason appearances he went 0-4 with an 8.72 ERA and 16 strikeouts. “Black Jack” was a three-time All-Star. In retirement he went into coaching at the scholastic, minor league, and collegiate levels.

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Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.