Sam McDowell had one of the most unimposing yet correct nicknames. When you hear the name "Sudden" Sam, you aren't sure what to think, but what does a "sudden" Pitcher mean? For McDowell, it is in reference to his rapid delivery and the strong odds that he would strike you out.
McDowell broke in with the Cleveland Indians as a teenager in 1961, and he was a fixture in the starting rotation in 1964. While Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson would have more Strikeouts than McDowell in the 1960s, McDowell had the most in the American League. The southpaw led the AL in Ks five times as an Indian, with two years eclipsing the 300 mark. Six times an All-Star, McDowell won the ERA Title in 1965, and he was twice the league-leader in bWAR for Pitchers. McDowell was able to hold opponents to a lack of Hits, but he was wild, and he walked far too many batters, as he gave free passes the most in the AL in five different seasons.
He would finish his career with runs in San Francisco, New York (AL), and Pittsburgh.
While McDowell’s overall record of 141-134 was not great, he is 25th all-time in SO/9 and 10th all-time in H/9. Those ranks place him around a plethora of Hall of Famers.
As for the Hall, McDowell was eligible in 1981, but he never received a vote, making him one of the best flamethrowers with that dubious distinction.
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our pre-2021 revision of our top 50 Washington Football Team of all-time.
As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NFL.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
This is our first revision after our inaugural unveiling, only one new entry.
As always, we present our top five here.
1. Sammy Baugh
3. Chris Hanburger
5. Art Monk
You can find the entire list here.
Right Guard, Brandon Scherff, is the lone debut, coming in at #48.
We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.
From Russia, Dmitri Kalinin was a First Round Pick in 1998 and was a regular blueliner for the Sabres two years later.
It is not typical for a hockey player to have his best season as a rookie, especially for non-Goalies, but this is the case for Defenseman Tyler Myers.