Jack Burns McDowell (born January 16, 1966) is an American former baseball player. A right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

, McDowell played for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

, and

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

of the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB). Nicknamed "Black Jack", he was a three-time All-Star and won the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

in 1993. McDowell has also been a professional musician, most notably with the rock band stickfigure.

Baseball career

Amateur career

McDowell attended Notre Dame High School in

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He was drafted by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in the 20th round of the 1984 MLB draft, but did not sign. He chose to attend

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

, 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 the

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

to the 1987 College World Series championship.

Chicago White Sox

McDowell was drafted by the

in the first round (fifth pick) of the 1987 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 the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

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 AAA

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadiu ...

, 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 the

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and Nationa ...

each of those years. He won 20 games in 1992 and 22 in 1993, when he won the

and led the White Sox to the postseason (they lost in the 1993 American League Championship Series to the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

). From 1988 until 1995, his season ERA was consistently between 3.00 and 4.00, well below the league average. In 1993, he set a modern (post-1950) record by recording a decision in each of his first 27 starts.

New York Yankees

After the 1994 season, McDowell was traded to the

for minor league pitcher Keith Heberling and outfielder Lyle Mouton. 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 giving the

finger A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers ( Pentadactyly). Chamber ...

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. McDowell was also the pitcher who gave up the walk-off, series-winning

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

Edgar Martínez Edgar Martínez (born January 2, 1963), nicknamed "Gar" and "Papi", is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a designated hitter and third baseman for the Seattle Mariners from 19 ...

in Game 5 of the

1995 American League Division Series The 1995 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 1995 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—p ...

, scoring

Joey Cora José Manuel Cora Amaro (born May 14, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball player with an 11-year career in MLB spanning the years 1987 and 1989–1998 and current third base coach for the New York Mets. He played for the San Diego Padres o ...

and

Ken Griffey Jr. George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle M ...

to eliminate the Yankees from the playoffs and send the Seattle Mariners to the

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the America ...

. This, coupled with the emergence of Andy Pettite who became the Yankees' ace the following season, resulted in McDowell becoming a free agent in the offseason.

Cleveland Indians

McDowell spent 1996–1997 with the

. 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 rookie

Jaret Wright Jaret Samuel Wright (born December 29, 1975) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or parts of 11 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Balt ...

Anaheim Angels

He signed as a free agent with the

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.

Coaching career

On January 29, 2014, McDowell announced on his

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page that he had been hired to manage the

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Rookie League affiliate, the Ogden Raptors, in the Pioneer League. In 2015, he was named manager of the

Arizona League Dodgers The Arizona Complex League Dodgers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix, Arizona. The team is compos ...

. The Dodgers dismissed him after the season. 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. On March 27, 2020, Queens University announced that McDowell stepped down as the head coach. He has spent the 2021 summer season as the manager of the collegiate summer team the Burlington Sock Puppets.

Music career

During his baseball career, McDowell played

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

in various groups in the

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

genre, usually performing during the off-season. McDowell's first band, V.I.E.W., which consisted of him and fellow baseball players Lee Plemel and Wayne Edwards, had two albums, "Extendagenda" and "Replace The Mind." The band was formed in 1989 and disbanded in 1992. Their most notable accomplishment was touring with The Smithereens in 1992. His second band, stickfigure, consisted of McDowell, Michael Hamilton, Mike Mesaros and

Frank Funaro Frank Funaro is an American drummer who has played with Del Lords, The Brandos, Camper Van Beethoven, Joey Ramone, The Dictators, Cracker, Nils Lofgren Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording art ...

. They produced the albums ''Just a Thought'', ''Feedbag'', ''Ape of the Kings'' and ''Memonto Mori'', before the group disbanded in 2003.stickfigure bio
/ref>

Discography

*''Extendagenda'' (1991) – V.I.E.W. *''Replace the Mind'' (1992) – V.I.E.W. *''Just a Thought'' (1995) – stickfigure *''Feedbag'' (2001) – stickfigure *''Ape of the Kings'' (2002) – stickfigure *''Memonto Mori'' (2003) – stickfigure

In popular culture

In 2008, musicians Scott McCaughey (of The Minus 5), Steve Wynn,

Linda Pitmon Linda Pitmon is an American drummer known for her work with the supergroups The Baseball Project and the Filthy Friends. Pitmon played percussion in band and orchestra in high school. She suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and drumming was a h ...

, and Peter Buck formed The Baseball Project to pay homage to America's greatest pastime. Their album Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails contains the song ''The Yankee Flipper'', a tribute to their friend Jack McDowell and a confession that a long night of drinking with the musicians may have led to the infamous finger to the crowd.

References

External links

Discography on CD Universe
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Jack 1966 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American League All-Stars American League wins champions Anaheim Angels players Baseball players from Los Angeles Birmingham Barons players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Cy Young Award winners Edmonton Trappers players Gulf Coast White Sox players Lake Elsinore Storm players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers Midland Angels players New York Yankees players Notre Dame High School (Sherman Oaks, California) alumni People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles Stanford Cardinal baseball players Vancouver Canadians players