Tall (6 feet, 5 inches) and powerful, his left-handed fastball was delivered with an unusually calm pitching motion which led to his memorable nickname, Sudden Sam. His strikeout prowess was sometimes nullified by periodic control problems.\n', '

Prior to the 1960 season, McDowell signed with the Indians for a $75,000 bonus. After spending 1960 with the Class-D Lakeland Indians, he was promoted to the Triple-A Salt Lake City Bees of the Pacific Coast League. He finished the year there with a record of 13-10 and a 4.42 earned run average.\n', '

This was enough to earn him a promotion to the majors in September, and one week before his 19th birthday he made his MLB debut for the Indians. Starting against the Minnesota Twins, McDowell pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, giving up just three hits. However, in a harbinger of things to come, he also walked five batters before being relieved by Frank Funk. Funk gave up three runs in the 9th inning to lose the game, 3-2. McDowell did not pitch again in 1961.\n', '

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