#324) ROGER McDOWELL

Roger McDowell was drafted by the New York Mets in the third round of the 1982 amateur draft. He made his major league debut in 1985 after a strong spring training. Roger had previously been a starting pitcher in the minors but had become quite a successful reliever now. McDowell was a member of the 1986 World Champion Mets team. After throwing a scoreless seventh inning he even was credited with the victory of the seventh game of that World Series.

The right-hander was a major prankster that routinely lit firecrackers in the dugout and administered many a "hot foot". So it was a perfect fit for him to appear on the television show "Seinfeld" as the mystery "spitter" from the grassy knoll in a Keith Hernandez episode.

McDowell is currently the pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves.

I created his card in the set (on October 14, 2009) from an index card Roger McDowell autographed for SCN member "Kingman15".