Oddibe McDowell

Oddibe McDowell
Center fielder
Born: August 25, 1962 (1962-08-25) (age 49) Hollywood, Florida
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
MLB debut
May 19, 1985 for the Texas Rangers
Last MLB appearance
August 10, 1994 for the Texas Rangers
Career statistics
Batting average	.253
Home runs	74
Runs batted in	266
Teams
Texas Rangers (1985–1988) Cleveland Indians (1989) Atlanta Braves (1989–1990) Texas Rangers (1994)
Career highlights and awards
1984 Golden Spikes Award

Medal record
Competitor for  United States
Men's Baseball
Summer Olympics
Silver	1984 Los Angeles	Team

Oddibe McDowell (born August 25, 1962) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1985 to 1994 for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves. McDowell was the first player to hit for the cycle for the Rangers when he accomplished that feat on July 23, 1985. Mark Teixeira, Gary Matthews, Jr., Ian Kinsler and Bengie Molina are the only other Rangers players to hit for the cycle.

His first name is pronounced "owed a bee" or "oh-ta-bee." Because it also sounds vaguely like a slurred rendition of "oh to be," ESPN personality and announcer Chris Berman dubbed him Oddibe "Young Again" McDowell.^[1]

Baseball career

He won the prestigious Golden Spikes Award, which is given annually to the best amateur baseball player, in 1984 while playing at Arizona State University. He wore uniform number 0 at ASU, and ASU has retired his number. McDowell also finished 4th in the American League Rookie of the Year voting for 1985.

He was a member of the 1984 United States Olympic Team.

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.^[2]

Through June 16, 2009, McDowell was tied for second of all Rangers players ever in career leadoff home runs, one behind the 9 by Ian Kinsler.[1]

Today, Oddibe is the Head Coach for the Everglades High School Varsity Baseball team.

He was inducted in the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases

References

1. ^ "Chris Berman's Nicknames". Funny2. http://www.funny2.com/berman.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-18. 
2. ^ "Oddibe McDowell Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac". Baseball-almanac.com. http://baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=mcdowod01. Retrieved 2009-06-18. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube

Persondata
Name	Macdowell, Oddibe
Alternative names
Short description	American baseball player
Date of birth	August 25, 1962
Place of birth	Hollywood, Florida
Date of death
Place of death