:Oddibe McDowell

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Oddibe McDowell

|image=Oddibe McDowell Rangers.jpg

|position=Center fielder

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1962|8|25}}

|birth_place=Hollywood, Florida, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=May 19

|debutyear=1985

|debutteam=Texas Rangers

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=August 10

|finalyear=1994

|finalteam=Texas Rangers

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.253

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=74

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=266

|teams=

Texas Rangers ({{mlby|1985}}–{{mlby|1988}})
Cleveland Indians ({{mlby|1989}})
Atlanta Braves ({{mlby|1989}}–{{mlby|1990}})
Texas Rangers ({{mlby|1994}})

|highlights=

Golden Spikes Award (1984)

|medaltemplates=

{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}

}}

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.Florida High School Activities Association. [https://www.fhsaa.org/sites/default/files/orig_uploads/records/rec_wr.pdf "Wrestling - 2017-18 Championship Records"] (PDF). FHSAA.org, 2017, Gainesville. Retrieved April 21, 2018.

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{{cite web |url=http://www.thesundevils.com/sports/2000/8/16/208252919.aspx |title=Baseball |website=thesundevils.com |access-date=December 20, 2017}} and has retired his number.{{cite web |url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/asu/sports/m-basebl/auto_pdf/RetiredNumbers.pdf |title=ASU Retired Numbers |website=cstv.com |access-date=December 20, 2017}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=mcdowod01 |title=Oddibe McDowell Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac |publisher=Baseball-almanac.com |access-date=2009-06-18}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1985/B07230TEX1985.htm |title=Texas Rangers 8, Cleveland Indians 4 |website=Retrosheet |date=July 23, 1985}} Through the end of the 2017 season, Mark Teixeira, Gary Matthews, Jr., Ian Kinsler, Bengie Molina, Adrián Beltré, Alex Ríos, Shin-Soo Choo, Carlos Gomez, and Wyatt Langford are the other Rangers players to hit for the cycle. Langford became the first Rangers rookie since McDowell to hit for the cycle in 2024. 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.{{cite web| url = http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090503&content_id=4551512&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090619010600/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090503&content_id=4551512&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb| archive-date = 2009-06-19| title = Harrison helps Rangers wrap up series {{!}} MLB.com: News}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.collegebaseballhall.org/hall_of_famers.jsp?year=2011#McDowell |title=2011 College Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees |website=collegebaseballhall.org |date=2011 |access-date=December 20, 2017}}

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.{{cite news|title=Goodbye, Old Friend: The Last Oddibe McDowell Water Bill We'll Ever See Is $80.55|url=https://deadspin.com/5895939/goodbye-old-friend-the-last-oddibe-mcdowell-water-bill-well-ever-see-is-8055|access-date=12 April 2018|work=Deadspin|date=March 23, 2012}} 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."{{cite news|last1=Mooney|first1=Michael J.|title=Deadspin Cracks the Case of Oddibe McDowell's Water Bill, Finally (Updated)|url=http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/deadspin-cracks-the-case-of-oddibe-mcdowells-water-bill-finally-updated-6468111|access-date=12 April 2018|work=New Times Broward-Palm Beach|date=February 24, 2011}}

As of 2022, McDowell is in his eighth year as the head coach for the McArthur High School varsity baseball team in Hollywood, Florida.{{cite web |url=http://www.browardhighschoolbaseball.com/coach/oddibe-mcdowell/37/ |title=Oddibe McDowell – McArthur Mustangs Head Coach |website=browardhighschoolbaseball.com |date=2017 |access-date=December 20, 2017}}