Oddibe McDowell
Center fielder
Born: (1962-08-25) August 25, 1962
Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
May 19, 1985, for the Texas Rangers
Last MLB appearance
August 10, 1994, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
Batting average.253
Home runs74
Runs batted in266
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1984 Los Angeles Team competition
World Games
Gold medal – first place 1981 Santa Clara Team competition

Oddibe McDowell (born August 25, 1962) is an American former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from 1985 to 1994 for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Atlanta Braves.

Amateur baseball

McDowell was a noted multi-sport athlete at McArthur High School in Hollywood, Florida, and won the Florida High School Activities Association Class 4A wrestling championship at 155 pounds in 1979.[1]

McDowell won the Golden Spikes Award, which is given annually to the best amateur baseball player, in 1984 while playing college baseball at Arizona State University (ASU). He wore uniform number 0 at ASU; ASU inducted McDowell to the university's athletic hall of fame in 1991[2] and has retired his number.[3]

In 1981, McDowell won a gold medal as a member of the United States national team in World Games I. He was also a member of the 1984 United States Olympic Team.

McDowell was selected by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the 1984 Major League Baseball draft.

Professional baseball

McDowell stood out during his first stint with the Texas Rangers by wearing the very unusual uniform number 0. He wore the number 20 with the Indians, the number 1 with the Braves, and during his second time with the Rangers, he wore number 8.[4]

McDowell was the first player to hit for the cycle for the Rangers, doing so on July 23, 1985, in a Rangers' 8–4 victory over the Indians at Arlington Stadium.[5] Through the end of the 2017 season, Mark Teixeira, Gary Matthews, Jr., Ian Kinsler, Bengie Molina, Adrián Beltré, Alex Ríos, Shin-Soo Choo, and Carlos Gomez are the other Rangers players to hit for the cycle. McDowell finished 4th in the American League Rookie of the Year voting for 1985.

Through June 16, 2009, McDowell was tied for second of all Rangers players ever in career leadoff home runs, one behind the nine leadoff homers by Ian Kinsler.[6]

His first name is pronounced "owed a bee" or "oh-ta-bee."

Post-playing career

McDowell was inducted to the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.[7]

Between February 2011 and March 2012, Deadspin ran a series of 14 articles, which published McDowell's monthly water bill and the amount owed; until that time, water bills were publicly accessible on the Broward County Waste and Wastewater Services department's website.[8] Writing for New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Michael J. Mooney described the series as Dadaist and evidence of "the power of mass appeal and of interactive media."[9]

As of 2022, McDowell is in his eighth year as the head coach for the McArthur High School varsity baseball team in Hollywood, Florida.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Florida High School Activities Association. "Wrestling - 2017-18 Championship Records" (PDF). FHSAA.org, 2017, Gainesville. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Baseball". thesundevils.com. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ "ASU Retired Numbers" (PDF). cstv.com. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Oddibe McDowell Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac". Baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
  5. ↑ "Texas Rangers 8, Cleveland Indians 4". Retrosheet. July 23, 1985.
  6. ↑ "Harrison helps Rangers wrap up series | MLB.com: News". Archived from the original on 2009-06-19.
  7. ↑ "2011 College Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees". collegebaseballhall.org. 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Goodbye, Old Friend: The Last Oddibe McDowell Water Bill We'll Ever See Is $80.55". Deadspin. March 23, 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  9. ↑ Mooney, Michael J. (February 24, 2011). "Deadspin Cracks the Case of Oddibe McDowell's Water Bill, Finally (Updated)". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "Oddibe McDowell – McArthur Mustangs Head Coach". browardhighschoolbaseball.com. 2017. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
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