Wood vs. Wood #185

Last time 1962 cruised to a 6-3 triumph. Who will win this battle of New York pitchers?

Roland Sheldon is pictured in a very green area, lots of grass and trees. This was before spring training fields became huge complexes. Sheldon was a rookie on the legendary 1961 Yankees and did fairly well as a part-time starter and reliever, going 11-5 with a 3.60 ERA in 35 games (21 starts). He did not pitch in the World Series. He struggled in 1962, and spent all of 1963 and much of 1964 in the minors, though he did return to the Yankees in 1964 and even pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in the World Series. He was traded to the Kansas City A's in 1965 and pitched OK for them for two years. He was traded to the Red Sox, the team he rooted for as a child, but pitched very poorly for Boston, going 1-6 with a 4.97 ERA. He spent the next four years in the minors before retiring. Overall in 160 major league games (101 starts) he went 38-36 with a 4.09 ERA. After his career he worked for Allstate Insurance for many years. He is now retired and living in Missouri.

Roger McDowell is also shown in spring training, delivering a pitch during a game. McDowell came up with the Mets in 1985 and quickly became co-closer with Jesse Orosco, helping the team win a World Championship in 1986, going 14-9 with 22 saves and a 3.02 ERA. In the 1988 NLCS he allowed a big home run to Kirk Gibson that helped propel the Dodgers to their upset victory in the series. Perhaps as a reaction to that home run, the next year the Mets traded McDowell and Lenny Dykstra to the Phillies for Juan Samuel in one of the worst trades in team history. Two years later the Phillies traded McDowell to the Dodgers for Braulio Castillo and Mike Hartley, negating some of the positive aspects of the prior deal. He was very good for the Dodgers through the 1993 season, and hung on with stints in Texas and Baltimore through 1996. Overall in 723 games he went 70-70 with 159 saves and a 3.30 ERA. During his playing career, McDowell was known for a variety of pranks, from funny wigs to more dangerous activities like hotfoots and throwing firecrackers at teammates. A darker side of his personality was publicly revealed in 2011 when, as pitching coach for the Braves, McDowell yelled homophobic slurs at some fans in San Francisco and threatened another fan with a bat. He later spent two years as the Orioles pitching coach but now appears to be retired.