Roger McDowell
Born: 12/21/1960 in Cincinnati, OH, USA
MLB Debut: 1985-04-11 | Final Game: 1996-08-14
Bats: R | Throws: R | Height: 6'1" | Weight: 175 lbs
Full name: Roger Alan McDowell
Biography
Roger McDowell was a skilled pitcher whose career spanned from 1985 to 1996, making a significant impact in Major League Baseball during his tenure. Born in 1960, McDowell played primarily as a relief pitcher, showcasing a blend of power and finesse that contributed to his teams' successes. Over the course of his career, he achieved a record of 70-70, with a commendable earned run average (ERA) of 3.3. McDowell was particularly effective in high-pressure situations, accumulating 159 saves and striking out 524 batters, which underscored his ability to perform under duress.
McDowell's playing style was characterized by a strong fastball and a knack for inducing ground balls, making him a valuable asset in the bullpen during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was known for his competitive spirit and was a key member of the pitching staff for several teams, including the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves. As a product of the post-deadball era, McDowell navigated the evolving landscape of baseball during a time when relief pitching began to take on an increasingly prominent role. His contributions to the game have been remembered fondly, and he remains a respected figure in baseball history.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | 70 | 723 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 159 | 1050.0 | 1045 | 385 | 50 | 410 | 524 | 3.30 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | NYN | NL | 6 | 5 | 62 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 127.3 | 108 | 40 | 37 | 70 | 2.83 | 1615.4 |
| 1986 | NYN | NL | 14 | 9 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 128.0 | 107 | 43 | 42 | 65 | 3.02 | 2483.5 |
| 1987 | NYN | NL | 7 | 5 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 88.7 | 95 | 41 | 28 | 32 | 4.16 | 232.3 |
| 1988 | NYN | NL | 5 | 5 | 62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 89.0 | 80 | 26 | 31 | 46 | 2.63 | 1600.1 |
| 1989 | NYN | NL | 1 | 5 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 35.3 | 34 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 3.31 | -88.7 |
| 1989 | PHI | NL | 3 | 3 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 56.7 | 45 | 7 | 22 | 32 | 1.11 | 573.9 |
| 1990 | PHI | NL | 6 | 8 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 86.3 | 92 | 37 | 35 | 39 | 3.86 | 811.9 |
| 1991 | LAD | NL | 6 | 3 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 42.3 | 39 | 12 | 16 | 22 | 2.55 | - |
| 1991 | PHI | NL | 3 | 6 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 59.0 | 61 | 21 | 32 | 28 | 3.20 | 82.9 |
| 1992 | LAD | NL | 6 | 10 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 83.7 | 103 | 38 | 42 | 50 | 4.09 | - |
| 1993 | LAD | NL | 5 | 3 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 68.0 | 76 | 17 | 30 | 27 | 2.25 | - |
| 1994 | LAD | NL | 0 | 3 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41.3 | 50 | 24 | 22 | 29 | 5.23 | - |
| 1995 | TEX | AL | 7 | 4 | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 85.0 | 86 | 38 | 34 | 49 | 4.02 | 701.1 |
| 1996 | BAL | AL | 1 | 1 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 59.3 | 69 | 28 | 23 | 20 | 4.25 | -1027.4 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 725 | 72 | 6 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 28 | 0.222 | 0.282 | 0.292 | 0.574 | 0.0 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | NYN | NL | 62 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.158 | 0.0 |
| 1986 | NYN | NL | 75 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.278 | 0.0 |
| 1987 | NYN | NL | 56 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0.231 | 0.0 |
| 1988 | NYN | NL | 63 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.333 | 0.0 |
| 1989 | NYN | NL | 25 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.0 |
| 1989 | PHI | NL | 44 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1990 | PHI | NL | 72 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1991 | LAD | NL | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1991 | PHI | NL | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1992 | LAD | NL | 65 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1993 | LAD | NL | 54 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 | 0.0 |
| 1994 | LAD | NL | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1995 | TEX | AL | 64 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1996 | BAL | AL | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | NLCS | NYN | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1986 | NLCS | NYN | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
| 1986 | WS | NYN | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 20.3 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 3.10 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | NLCS | NYN | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4.50 |
| 1986 | NLCS | NYN | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
| 1986 | WS | NYN | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7.3 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4.91 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P | 723 | 2 | 118 | 253 | 24 | 23 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | NYN | P | 62 | 2 | 17 | 27 | 4 | 2 |
| 1986 | NYN | P | 75 | 0 | 17 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 1986 | NYN | OF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1987 | NYN | P | 56 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 1988 | NYN | P | 62 | 0 | 11 | 19 | 1 | 2 |
| 1989 | NYN | P | 25 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 2 |
| 1989 | PHI | P | 44 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 1 |
| 1990 | PHI | P | 72 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 5 | 2 |
| 1991 | LAN | P | 33 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 1991 | LAN | OF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991 | PHI | P | 38 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 3 | 2 |
| 1992 | LAN | P | 65 | 0 | 8 | 21 | 3 | 2 |
| 1993 | LAN | P | 54 | 0 | 11 | 24 | 3 | 3 |
| 1994 | LAN | P | 32 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | TEX | P | 64 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 1 | 3 |
| 1996 | BAL | P | 41 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 1 | 2 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 723 |
| Left Field | 3 |
| Right Field | 1 |
Salary History
| Year | Team | League | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | BAL | AL | $750,000 |
| 1995 | LAN | NL | $300,000 |
| 1995 | TEX | AL | $575,000 |
| 1994 | LAN | NL | $1,350,000 |
| 1993 | LAN | NL | $1,350,000 |
| 1992 | LAN | NL | $2,200,000 |
| 1991 | PHI | NL | $2,000,000 |
| 1990 | PHI | NL | $1,400,000 |
| 1989 | PHI | NL | $762,000 |
| 1988 | NYN | NL | $615,000 |
| 1987 | NYN | NL | $305,000 |
| 1986 | NYN | NL | $185,000 |
| 1985 | NYN | NL | $60,000 |
| Total Career Earnings | $11,852,000 | ||
College History
| School Name | City | State | Years Attended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green State University | Bowling Green | OH | 1980, 1981, 1982 |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 17th | 5.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1985 | Rookie of the Year | NL | 6th | 2.0 | 120 | 0 |