English: "I am a huge baseball fan!" said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Sheila Bryant, from Fayetteville, N.C., to Jack McDowell, a retired Major League Baseball pitcher, at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar on Sept. 27, 2007. During his 13-year career, McDowell was commonly known as "Black Jack" by his teammates because of his dark beard. "Black Jack was a powerful pitcher," said Bryant. McDowell and two other professional baseball athletes visited troops in Qatar and Afghanistan during their Heroes of the Diamond tour.