What years did Jack McDowell play?

Jack McDowell played in Major League Baseball from 1987 to 1999.

Was Jack McDowell a pitcher?

Yes. Jack McDowell pitched in the major leagues, recording 127 wins and 1311 strikeouts.

What was Jack McDowell's career ERA?

Jack McDowell finished with a 3.85 career ERA, going 127-87 with 1,311 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Jack McDowell have?

Jack McDowell recorded 1,311 career strikeouts.

Did Jack McDowell win a Cy Young Award?

Yes. Jack McDowell won the Cy Young Award 1 time.

Is Jack McDowell in the Hall of Fame?

No. Jack McDowell has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jack McDowell

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1987-1999)

Jack McDowell was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1987 to 1999 for 4 teams, including the Chicago White Sox, a span of 13 seasons. Across 277 career appearances, he went 127-87 with a 3.85 ERA and 1,311 strikeouts. Jack McDowell was a 3-time All-Star and a Cy Young. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 17000.5.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 12, 2026

W–L 127–87

ERA 3.85

WHIP 1.30

SO 1,311

Pitcher PIV 17000.5

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'5" / 180 lb
Born: 1/16/1966 in Van Nuys, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1987-09-15
Last Game: 1999-08-08
Awards: 3× All-Star · Cy Young

Full name: Jack Burns McDowell

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Career Pitching Statistics

Jack McDowell — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
127	87	277	275	62	13	0	1889.0	1,854	809	173	606	1,311	3.85	17000.5

Career ERA 3.85 vs. league average 4.24 across their career seasons — 9.1% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jack McDowell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1987	CHA	AL	3	0	4	4	0	0	28.0	16	6	6	15	1.93	4.29 (+55%)	825.5
1988	CHA	AL	5	10	26	26	1	0	158.2	147	70	68	84	3.97	3.73 (-6%)	-1498.6
1990	CHA	AL	14	9	33	33	4	0	205.0	189	87	77	165	3.82	3.86 (+1%)	882.3
1991	CHA	AL	17	10	35	35	15	3	253.2	212	96	82	191	3.41	3.91 (+13%)	3807.5
1992	CHA	AL	20	10	34	34	13	1	260.2	247	92	75	178	3.18	3.75 (+15%)	2313.9
1993	CHA	AL	22	10	34	34	10	4	256.2	261	96	69	158	3.37	4.19 (+20%)	3910.7
1994	CHA	AL	10	9	25	25	6	2	181.0	186	75	42	127	3.73	4.51 (+17%)	5365.0
1995	NYA	AL	15	10	30	30	8	2	217.2	211	95	78	157	3.93	4.45 (+12%)	871.6
1996	CLE	AL	13	9	30	30	5	1	192.0	214	109	67	141	5.11	4.61 (-11%)	1542.5
1997	CLE	AL	3	3	8	6	0	0	40.2	44	23	18	38	5.09	4.39 (-16%)	-173.4
1998	ANA	AL	5	3	14	14	0	0	76.0	96	43	19	45	5.09	4.43 (-15%)	-369.3
1999	ANA	AL	0	4	4	4	0	0	19.0	31	17	5	12	8.05	4.71 (-71%)	-477.1
Career · 12 seasons			127	87	277	275	62	13	1,889.0	1,854	809	606	1,311	3.85	—	17,001

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Jack McDowell — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
277	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Jack McDowell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1987	CHA	AL	4	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	CHA	AL	26	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	CHA	AL	33	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1991	CHA	AL	35	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1992	CHA	AL	34	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	CHA	AL	34	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1994	CHA	AL	25	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1995	NYA	AL	30	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	CLE	AL	30	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1997	CLE	AL	8	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1998	ANA	AL	14	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1999	ANA	AL	4	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 12 seasons			277	—	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Jack McDowell — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Jack McDowell — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
1996	ALDS1	CLE	1	.000
1995	ALDS2	NYA	2	.000
1993	ALCS	CHA	2	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Jack McDowell — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	4	5	4	0	21.2	32	21	10	16	8.72

Playoff Pitching by Year

Jack McDowell — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1996	ALDS1	CLE	0	1	1	5.2	6	4	1	5	6.35
1995	ALDS2	NYA	2	2	1	7.0	8	7	4	6	9.00
1993	ALCS	CHA	2	2	2	9.0	18	10	5	5	10.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (554 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Jack McDowell — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	148	0	0	0	0	0	—
Away	129	0	0	0	0	0	—

Pitching — Home / Away

Jack McDowell — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	148	1008.2	992	438	327	704	3.91
Away	129	880.1	862	371	279	607	3.79

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Jack McDowell — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1999-08-08	LAA	BOS	L	4.0	8	5	5	1	4	2
1999-08-02	LAA	KCR	L	3.0	10	9	9	2	0	2
1999-07-28	LAA	TBR	L	6.1	7	2	2	1	4	0
1999-07-23	LAA	BAL	L	5.2	6	1	1	1	4	0
1998-09-24	LAA	OAK	—	4.0	8	6	6	0	1	0
1998-09-19	LAA	SEA	W	6.1	8	3	3	2	3	1
1998-09-13	LAA	BAL	—	2.1	5	6	5	5	1	0
1998-09-05	LAA	KCR	W	6.2	6	1	1	0	5	1
1998-08-29	LAA	BOS	L	3.0	6	5	5	1	1	2
1998-08-24	LAA	NYY	W	7.0	6	2	2	1	1	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Jack McDowell — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	277	275	139	245	13	12

Season-by-Season Fielding

Jack McDowell — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1987	CHA	P	4	4	1	6	0	0
1988	CHA	P	26	26	12	16	5	1
1990	CHA	P	33	33	17	20	1	3
1991	CHA	P	35	35	19	32	0	1
1992	CHA	P	34	34	16	27	2	3
1993	CHA	P	34	34	23	43	3	2
1994	CHA	P	25	25	8	23	0	0
1995	NYA	P	30	30	17	27	1	1
1996	CLE	P	30	30	20	27	1	0
1997	CLE	P	8	6	3	6	0	0
1998	ANA	P	14	14	3	12	0	1
1999	ANA	P	4	4	0	6	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Jack McDowell Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	277

Awards & Honors

Jack McDowell — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1995	Player of the Week	Week of 1995-08-12
1993	Cy Young Award
1993	Player of the Week	Week of 1993-08-21
1993	TSN All-Star	RHP
1993	TSN Pitcher of the Year
1992	TSN All-Star	RHP

Salary History

Jack McDowell — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1999	ANA	AL	$500,000
1998	ANA	AL	$1,500,000
1997	CLE	AL	$4,800,000
1996	CLE	AL	$4,800,000
1995	NYA	AL	$5,400,000
1994	CHA	AL	$5,300,000
1993	CHA	AL	$4,000,000
1992	CHA	AL	$1,600,000
1991	CHA	AL	$175,000
1988	CHA	AL	$62,500
Total Career Earnings			$28,137,500

College History

Jack McDowell — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Stanford University	Palo Alto	CA	1985, 1986, 1987

Award Voting History

Jack McDowell — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1993	Cy Young Award	AL	1st	124.0	140	21
1993	Most Valuable Player	AL	9th	51.0	392	0
1992	Cy Young Award	AL	2nd	51.0	140	2
1992	Most Valuable Player	AL	19th	5.0	392	0
1991	Cy Young Award	AL	9th	3.0	140	0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Jack McDowell (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Compare Jack McDowell

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Jack McDowell: the record in brief

According to the bio, Jack McDowell debuted on September 15, 1987 and played a final game on August 8, 1999. Club by club, the record runs the Chicago White Sox (1987 to 1994), the New York Yankees (1995), the Cleveland Indians (1996 to 1997), and the Anaheim Angels (1998 to 1999). McDowell played primarily as a pitcher and threw and hit right-handed. Born on January 16, 1966, in Van Nuys, CA, USA, McDowell was listed at 6-foot-5 and 180 pounds. The given name on file is Jack Burns McDowell.

McDowell pitched in 277 games, starting 275, and finished with a 127-87 record and 3.85 ERA. Also on McDowell's record: 1,311 strikeouts, 62 complete games, and 13 shutouts. Against a 4.24 league ERA for the same years, McDowell was 9.1% better. 1993 brought McDowell a season-high 22 wins. McDowell struck out 191 batters in 1991, a career high. In 1992, one of the busiest seasons, McDowell posted a 3.18 ERA; the league figure that year was 3.75. By Pitcher PIV, Baseball Data Hub's measure of run prevention relative to each season's league, McDowell's career adds up to 17,000.5.

The awards table lists the Cy Young Award in 1993. The bio's awards line reads 3× All-Star. The voting table's high point is a 1st-place Cy Young Award finish in 1993.

Frequently Asked Questions about Jack McDowell

What years did Jack McDowell play?: Jack McDowell played in Major League Baseball from 1987 to 1999.
Was Jack McDowell a pitcher?: Yes. Jack McDowell pitched in the major leagues, recording 127 wins and 1311 strikeouts.
What was Jack McDowell's career ERA?: Jack McDowell finished with a 3.85 career ERA, going 127-87 with 1,311 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Jack McDowell have?: Jack McDowell recorded 1,311 career strikeouts.
Did Jack McDowell win a Cy Young Award?: Yes. Jack McDowell won the Cy Young Award 1 time.
Is Jack McDowell in the Hall of Fame?: No. Jack McDowell has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.