David Barclay Dowling (born August 23, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player. Dowling was a left-handed pitcher, listed at tall and , who appeared in two Major League Baseball

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

, one for the St. Louis Cardinals and one for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. In the latter game, which would be his last in the Major Leagues, he pitched a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

, 7–2 victory over the

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at Wrigley Field on September 22, 1966.

Early life

Dowling would play for the Centralia Legion baseball team that won the 1958 state baseball tournament. During regional playoffs for the national title, he started two games, including a win-or-go-home, against future MLB pitcher, Dave McNally. The Centralia team lost the final game in extra frames despite a scoreless pitcher's duel between Dowling and McNally for nine innings. Dowling was a starter, and an all-state first team member, for the 1960 Chehalis high school boy's state champion basketball team, the only state title in the high school's history.

Baseball career

Dowling signed with the Cardinals in 1963 after attending the University of California, Berkeley. After winning ten of 14 decisions in the high minors in 1964, Dowling was recalled to St. Louis during September, when rosters are expanded from 25 to 40 players. The Cardinals were embroiled in a tense, four-team scramble for the National League pennant, and Dowling saw action in only one game, the penultimate October 3, 1964, contest against the New York Mets at Busch Stadium. He pitched the ninth

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...

of a lopsided 15–5 loss to the last-place Mets, facing five batters and allowing two

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but no runs. But the defeat proved to be only a temporary setback for the Redbirds, as they won the NL championship on the season's last day (by one game over the Reds and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

) on October 4 and went on to win the

1964 World Series The 1964 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1964 season. The 61st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the Amer ...

championship. The following season, Dowling was claimed on waivers by the Cubs and he spent two years in the Chicago

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before an end-of-season recall in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. The last-place Cubs started him against Cincinnati on September 22 and Dowling yielded only two earned runs — both coming in the first inning — on ten

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, going the distance to defeat veteran Reds' lefthander Joe Nuxhall. He never pitched again in the Majors, spending 1967 and 1968 working for minor league affiliates of the Cubs, Cardinals and San Francisco Giants. All told, Dowling yielded 12 hits in ten MLB innings, with no

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

and three strikeouts.

Post career and life

Dowling became a dentist, working in Longview, Washington and Arizona.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowling, Dave 1942 births Living people Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Washington (state) Chicago Cubs players Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball pitchers Phoenix Giants players St. Louis Cardinals players Tacoma Cubs players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players