Former Cy Young Award Winner, Ex-Yankee Jack McDowell To Visit Enfield

ENFIELD, CT — One of the most dominant pitchers in Major League Baseball during the 1990s will be visiting Enfield this Saturday, meeting fans and signing autographs as part of a huge sports card and memorabilia show.

Jack McDowell, who won the Cy Young Award as the American League's top pitcher in 1993 with the Chicago White Sox, will be on hand at 11 a.m. to noon at the Tanguay-Magill American Legion Post 80 at 566 Enfield Street. Autograph tickets range from $10 for trading cards to $25 for larger items, with photo ops also available for $10.

Promoter Alix Langlais said, "We are thrilled to have such a high-caliber, award-winning player like Jack McDowell join us."

Known as "Black Jack," McDowell returned impressively from an injury which hampered his early playing career with the White Sox. From 1990 to 1994, the 6-foot-5 righthander compiled an 83-48 record, a .634 winning percentage, and pitched in three All-Star Games, allowing just one hit and no runs in four innings of work. He was the winning pitcher for the American League in the 1993 midsummer classic at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

He placed ninth in the Cy Young Award voting in 1991, and finished runner-up to eventual Hall of Fame inductee Dennis Eckersley the following season, when he won 20 games. His career peaked in 1993, when he led the White Sox to the American League Championship Series on the strength of a 22-10 record, including four complete game shutouts. He received 21 of 28 first-place nods in the Cy Young balloting that year, easily outdistancing runner-up (and future Hall of Famer) Randy Johnson, and wound up ninth in voting for the American League Most Valuable Player award.

Following stints with the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Anaheim Angels, he retired following the 1999 season with a career record of 127-87, a .593 winning percentage and 1,311 strikeouts.

Show hours Saturday are from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.