#220 Sam McDowell - Cleveland Indians

Samuel Edward McDowell
Cleveland Indians
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'5"  Weight:  190
Born:  September 21, 1942, Pittsburgh, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1961-71; San Francisco Giants 1972-73; New York Yankees 1973-74; Pittsburgh Pirates 1975

Bolstering the Indians' starting pitching rotation through the mid to late-1960s, Sudden Sam McDowell was a six-time All-Star, won the ERA title in 1965 and led the league five times in strikeouts.  He was a superstar with the Indians, and his sneaky fastball contributed to eight seasons in a row with at least nine or more wins between 1964 and 1972.  His best season came in 1970 when he finished third in the American League Cy Young voting behind Jim Perry (#146) and Dave McNally (#340).  That season, McDowell went 20-12 with a 2.92 ERA over 305 innings pitched, which led the league.  He also led the league with 304 strikeouts, the second time in his career he had reached the 300 strikeout plateau in a season.  While he missed out on the Cy Young, The Sporting News named him their American League Pitcher of the Year.

McDowell struggled somewhat with his control throughout his career and those struggles intensified following the 1971 season when he demanded a trade from the Indians.  McDowell was dealt to the Giants for future Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry (#485) and the two pitchers' careers headed in opposite directions.  McDowell pitched briefly for the Yankees and Pirates before retiring.  He struggled with alcoholism before entering a rehabilitation facility and then eventually earning a college degree in sports psychology and addiction.  McDowell served as a sports addiction counselor with the Blue Jays and Rangers, earning a 1993 World Series ring with the Blue Jays.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #608
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Vintage Sports)

On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show.  The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year.  I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova.  I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.

I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set.  My second stop was the aptly named Vintage Sports table.  I always appreciate a dealer with clear signage explaining their pricing method, and Vintage Sports had a marker in their selection of 1969 Topps cards laying out that cards without a sleeve were $1 and cards with a sleeve were $2.  I had one "high number" in a sleeve, and that was a whopping $4. 

I found 28 commons needed before moving on to my third stop.  This was the 13th of 28 total cards bought from Vintage Sports, and the 49th of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day.  Sleeved, this card cost less than $2 after a dealer discount.

The Card / Indians Team Set / Accuracy Index +1

This same exact photo was used on McDowell's 1967 Topps card.  The back of the card highlights a few memorable events from the 1968 season - McDowell's 283 league-leading strikeouts and his scoreless inning in the All-Star Game.  He struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh, retiring Tom Haller (#310), Willie Mays (#190) and Willie McCovey (#440), as the American League won the game, 1-0.

Accuracy Index:  McDowell's card sinks to a +1 given the repeat photo.

Inserts:  McDowell is included as one of the 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.

1969 Season
From McDowell's SABR biography, written by Joseph Wancho: 

Heading into the 1969 season, McDowell was happy pitching for the Indians and his manager.  In spring training he was confident that the Tribe could contend for the pennant.   "As a strategist, [manager Al] Dark (#91) shows me things I never dreamed of before," he said.  "He has it all, and because he does, we’ve got a shot at the pennant this year - you better believe it."  But it did not turn out that way.  McDowell with an 18-14 record, led the team in victories and had a 2.94 ERA.  He led the league in strikeouts with 279.  But [Luis] Tiant (#560) finished with a record of 9-20, and led the league in losses.  (New Commissioner Bowie Kuhn had restored the 10-inch height of the pitching mound and shrunk the strike zone.)  Neither [Dick] Ellsworth (#605) nor [Juan] Pizarro (#498) [acquired in a preseason trade with the Red Sox] did much to help the staff.  On June 27, McDowell threw the 1,500th strikeout of his career, whiffing Yankees center fielder Ron Woods (#544).  But Sam’s prediction for the team fell flat; as they finished 46 1/2 games behind first place Baltimore.

1962 Topps #591

1967 Topps #295

1970 Topps #650

1973 Topps #511

1974 Topps #550

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #591
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1962-74
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2013 Panini Golden Age #71
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  161 in the Beckett online database as of 1/3/26.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog

#219 Freddie Patek - Pittsburgh Pirates / #221 Art Shamsky - New York Mets

#11 1968 A.L. Strikeout Leaders - Sam McDowell / Denny McLain / Luis Tiant

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1969 Topps set.  League leader cards can be found at the beginning of each Topps set issued in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969.

Building the Set / Card #547
December 15, 2024 from The Philly Show (Vintage Cardboard Collectibles)

On Sunday, December 15th, Doug and I attended the latest Philly Show, spaciously spread out inside Hall A of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  I wrote a full show report over at The Phillies Room, including some thoughts on attending the show with our oldest son, who first graced the Philly Show floors back in 2012.

Having spent the first half hour or so pulling 98 commons and semi-stars from the neon green binder of Uncle Dick's Cards, and adding the big purchase of the day, the Rollie Fingers (#597) rookie card, and after adding a few more star cards, the remaining cash I had was starting to burn a hole in my wallet.  I had noticed the common/semi-star boxes at the tables of Vintage Cardboard Collectibles, and I found 14 more cards for our 1969 Topps set and six cards for our not-yet-officially collecting 1959 Topps set.  This is the second of those 14 cards.  After the obligatory dealer discount, I handed over the last of my cash, and we exited the show for the drive home.

The Card / Indians Team Set / Tigers Team Set

I initially thought maybe this was the first League Leaders card to feature no Hall of Famers, but looking back there are actually five cards in the 12-card League Leaders subset that fit into that category.  On September 26, 1968, the penultimate day of the regular season, Denny McLain (#150) had 276 strikeouts, Luis Tiant (#560) was third with 264 and Sam McDowell (#220) had 272.  McDowell turned in an 11 strikeout performance against the Orioles in a four-hit shutout, catapulting him into the lead.  McLain would strike out four in his final start of the season the next day, a tune-up for the World Series against the Cardinals.  McDowell led the league in strikeouts five times, peaking with a career-high 325 in 1965.  McLain never before and never again came close to his 1968 tally of 280.  The same can be said for El Tiante, who crossed the 200 strikeout plateau three times during his career, in 1967 with 219, in 1968 with his career-high 264 and in 1973 with 206. 

The Orioles' Eddie Watt (#652) got cheated out of recognition on the card, as he was one of three American League pitchers with 72 strikeouts in 1968.  Topps included Wilbur Wood (#123) twice, showing him with 74 and 72 strikeouts, and the latter was meant to be Watt.  And I found one more uncorrected error in that Clyde Wright (#583) only had 71 strikeouts per Baseball Reference.

#10 1968 N.L. Pitching Leaders / #12 1968 N.L. Strikeout Leaders

#435 Sam McDowell AS - Cleveland Indians

All-Star cards returned to Topps sets in 1968 under The Sporting News banner for a three-year run between 1968 and 1970.  Topps included 20 All-Star cards in its 1969 set, featuring 10 All-Stars from each league and one player from each position, including both a right-handed and left-handed pitcher.  

Building the Set / Card #385
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times.  I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.

Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders.  I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500.  This card was the 93rd of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little less than $2.

1970 Topps #469

The Card / Indians Team Set / Pete Rose Puzzle

The American League's All-Star pitchers for this subset (and again for the 1970 Topps subset) were Denny McLain (#150) from the right side and Sam McDowell from the left.  The veteran McDowell was a six-time All-Star between 1965 and 1971, and he had a 1.13 ERA in eight innings pitched, with 12 strikeouts.  McDowell was the losing pitcher in his first All-Star Game in 1965, as he allowed a tie-breaking RBI single to Ron Santo (#570) in the top of the seventh inning, with the National League eventually winning, 6-5.

The black-and-white background shot is a young McDowell in a photo that could date back to 1961.  The linked article below from Sports Collectors Daily has a good look at the actual photo used.  The backs of these All-Star cards contain a puzzle piece of either Pete Rose (#120) or Carl Yastrzemski (#130).  The back of McDowell's card features the bottom half of Rose's jersey, including his iconic #14.

Topps All-Star Card Appearances (2):  1969-70

Sources:  
Baseball Reference

Sports Collectors Daily - Mistaken Identities

#434 Jerry Koosman AS - New York Mets / #436 Gene Alley - Pittsburgh Pirates

#7 1968 A.L. ERA Leaders - Luis Tiant / Sam McDowell / Dave McNally

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1969 Topps set.  League leader cards can be found at the beginning of each Topps set issued in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969.

Building the Set / Card #80
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the third of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards.  (This card was marked $2.50, but goes down as $2.08 in my tracking schedule.)  If I stick to composing posts five times a week, which may slip through the summer months, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!

The Card / Indians Team Set / Orioles Team Set

A number of the league leaders cards in the 1969 set lack serious star power, and this card is no exception, but at least all three players here have team logos on their hats.  Teammates Luis Tiant (#560) and Sam McDowell (#220) had fantastic seasons for the third place Indians, and their personal records would likely have been better on a team with more wins.  Tiant was 21-9 with a 1.60 ERA in 34 overall appearances, including 32 starts, and 258 1/3 innings pitched.  

Given Denny McLain (#150) was 31-6 with a 1.96 in 1968, no other American League pitcher even received consideration in the Cy Young Award voting.  Tiant would win the ERA title again in 1972 with the Red Sox, with a 1.91 mark.  McDowell had been a previous ERA title winner in 1965 when his ERA was 2.18.  He made five more starts than Tiant and threw a team leading 269 innings.

Dave McNally (#340) just squeaked by McLain for the third spot on the front of the card, earning a 1.95 ERA.  His ERA in the 1969 postseason was 1.67 overall.  This card is listed as an UER (uncorrected error) on most checklists, given Topps misspelled McNally's name on the back.

#6 1968 N.L. Home Run Leaders / #8 1968 N.L. ERA Leaders