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Sam McDowell played 15 major-league seasons (1961-1975) as a P (425), 1B (1), 2B (1). Career totals and every year-by-year line below come from the SABR/Lahman database (CC BY-SA), covering 1871-2025.
Showing 14 season lines
| Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 19 | CLE | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | -100 |
| 1962 | 20 | CLE | 25 | 26 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | .154 | .308 | -14 |
| 1963 | 21 | CLE | 15 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | .211 | .461 | 35 |
| 1964 | 22 | CLE | 31 | 56 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 25 | .143 | .374 | 9 |
| 1965 | 23 | CLE | 43 | 95 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 35 | .126 | .272 | -20 |
| 1966 | 24 | CLE | 36 | 60 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | .200 | .443 | 31 |
| 1967 | 25 | CLE | 37 | 82 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 28 | .183 | .422 | 28 |
| 1968 | 26 | CLE | 38 | 85 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 35 | .153 | .342 | 8 |
| 1969 | 27 | CLE | 39 | 92 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 31 | .174 | .379 | 9 |
| 1970 | 28 | CLE | 40 | 105 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 42 | .124 | .293 | -16 |
| 1971 | 29 | CLE | 35 | 73 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 26 | .178 | .367 | 9 |
| 1972 | 30 | SFN | 28 | 59 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 21 | .119 | .303 | -11 |
| 1973 | 31 | SFN | 18 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .167 | .333 | -4 |
| 1975 | 33 | PIT | 14 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .000 | .000 | -100 |
| Year | Age | Team | G | GS | W | L | SV | IP | SO | BB | ERA | ERA+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 19 | CLE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | 5 | 5 | 0.00 | — |
| 1962 | 20 | CLE | 25 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 87.2 | 70 | 70 | 6.06 | 66 |
| 1963 | 21 | CLE | 14 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 65 | 63 | 44 | 4.85 | 75 |
| 1964 | 22 | CLE | 31 | 24 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 173.1 | 177 | 100 | 2.70 | 134 |
| 1965 | 23 | CLE | 42 | 35 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 273 | 325 | 132 | 2.18 | 159 |
| 1966 | 24 | CLE | 35 | 28 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 194.1 | 225 | 102 | 2.87 | 120 |
| 1967 | 25 | CLE | 37 | 37 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 236.1 | 236 | 123 | 3.85 | 84 |
| 1968 | 26 | CLE | 38 | 37 | 15 | 14 | 0 | 269 | 283 | 110 | 1.81 | 165 |
| 1969 | 27 | CLE | 39 | 38 | 18 | 14 | 1 | 285 | 279 | 102 | 2.94 | 123 |
| 1970 | 28 | CLE | 39 | 39 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 305 | 304 | 131 | 2.92 | 127 |
| 1971 | 29 | CLE | 35 | 31 | 13 | 17 | 1 | 214.2 | 192 | 153 | 3.40 | 102 |
| 1972 | 30 | SFN | 28 | 25 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 164.1 | 122 | 86 | 4.33 | 80 |
| 1973 | 31 | NYA | 16 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 95.2 | 75 | 64 | 3.95 | 97 |
| 1973 | 31 | SFN | 18 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 40 | 35 | 29 | 4.50 | 81 |
| 1974 | 32 | NYA | 13 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 48 | 33 | 41 | 4.69 | 77 |
| 1975 | 33 | PIT | 14 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 34.2 | 29 | 20 | 2.86 | 127 |
| Year | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | P | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962 | P | 25 | 13 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| 1963 | P | 14 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1964 | P | 31 | 24 | 7 | 20 | 2 | 1 |
| 1965 | P | 42 | 35 | 6 | 46 | 4 | 0 |
| 1966 | P | 35 | 28 | 11 | 30 | 2 | 2 |
| 1967 | P | 37 | 37 | 9 | 31 | 5 | 2 |
| 1968 | P | 38 | 37 | 10 | 30 | 4 | 7 |
| 1969 | P | 39 | 38 | 5 | 39 | 4 | 5 |
| 1970 | P | 39 | 39 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 1 |
| 1970 | 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970 | 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1971 | P | 35 | 31 | 3 | 26 | 4 | 2 |
| 1972 | P | 28 | 25 | 8 | 21 | 1 | 0 |
| 1973 | P | 34 | 18 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 1 |
| 1974 | P | 13 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1975 | P | 14 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
Team codes are the source codes (e.g. NYN for the New York Mets, BS1 for the 1875 Boston club). OPS+ is league-season normalized, not park-adjusted; unrecorded source values (such as RBI in the earliest recorded seasons) are absent, never zero-filled.
Sam McDowell won: TSN All-Star 1970 (AL).
MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year voting history (3 ballot finishes, 0 wins). Full year pages: 1970, 1965.
| Year | Award | Lg | Rank | Points | First-place votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 19 | 7 / 280 | 0 |
| 1970 | Cy Young Award | AL | 3 | 45 / 120 | 4 |
| 1970 | Most Valuable Player | AL | 16 | 22 / 336 | 0 |
Every career total and season line is computed from the SABR / Sean Lahman baseball database (2025 edition, CC BY-SA 3.0), the same source behind our historical position leaderboards. Rate stats use league-season normalization only (OPS+ and ERA+ as marked, never park-adjusted); unrecorded early-era values stay absent rather than being invented. Career totals sum only what the source records.
Award winners and MVP / Cy Young / Rookie of the Year voting history come from the same database; the year pages live under MLB award voting history. Official transactions (2011 to the current season) come from the MLB StatsAPI feed on our transactions archive.