Former White Sox ace Jack McDowell is in the news, as he was just hired by the Dodgers to manage their rookie league team, the Ogden Raptors. It’s the first managing job for Black Jack, a guy who never really struck you as managing material back in his heyday, but I suppose everyone matures.
And based on this interview by Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald, he sounds pretty interesting today.
McDowell wants to teach baseball and is excited about working with rookie leaguers. He is realistic about how analysis of the game has changed and admits that, had he posted his 1993 season in 2013, he wouldn’t have won the Cy Young Award given that wins and innings are no longer considered everything (though he still thinks wins are the most important pitcher stat).
Oh, and he has something to say about PEDs and the Hall of Fame too:Q: You’ve been outspoken about suspected PED users and the Hall of Fame. Why?
A: I just think it’s too bad that only the handful of guys take the brunt of it from everybody. Meanwhile, a ton of other guys were into it. You can’t fix the other part, the players who (Hall of Fame voters) say are clean.
All of us who were around kind of smirk at each other. There are guys in there (HOF) already that everyone knows (weren’t clean). It’s part of the deal.
Unless you’re going to use a lie detector on everybody, you’re never going to know who did and who didn’t.Don’t tell that to the Hall of Fame voters. They think they know.
