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Roger Craig
Ultimate Mets Database popularity ranking: 124 of 1252 players
Roger Lee Craig
Born: February 17, 1930 at Durham, N.C.
Died: June 4, 2023 at San Diego, Cal.
Throws: Right Bats: Right
Height: 6.04 Weight: 196

Roger Craig has been the most popular Ultimate Mets Database daily lookup 11 times, most recently on February 17, 2024.

First Mets game: April 11, 1962
Last Mets game: September 25, 1963

Share your memories of Roger Craig HERE IS WHAT OTHER METS FANS HAVE TO SAY: Won Doney February 17, 2001 Come on!!!! No one has anything to say about Roger Craig? It's not every season when a guy leads the team in both wins and losses with a 10 and 24 record! murphy May 2, 2001 I have one thing to say. I absolutely hated Roger Craig in 1986 for having taught Mike Scott the split finger fastball. Scott was a horrible major league pither with the Mets, goes to the Astros, learns the splitter and became a stud. It was all Craig's fault. David Mo June 28, 2001 Craig pitched his heart out for a terrible Mets club in '62 & '63, but everywhere else he was a winner. He won a pivotal game in the Brooklyn Dodgers ONLY World Championship in '55 and helped the Cards to their first Championship in 18 years in '64 with an incredible 5 inning/9K win in relief. He led the pennant-winning '59 L.A. Dodgers in winning PCT and ERA, outpitching Koufax, Drysdale and Podres. He was the first San Diego Padres manager to post a winning record (1978), improving on his predecessor's record by 25 games(!), and in 1989 managed the Giants to only the second pennant in SF history thus far. And let's not forget his work as pitching coach for the juggernaut Tigers in '84. Roger...over and out! harvey k January 30, 2002 roger had one of the best pickoff moves in basball history Jim Snedeker March 11, 2002 Was born too late to know about his good years. The first thing that comes to mind is Lindsey Nelson's voice from my "Miracle Mets" record in which he's broadcasting the Mets' first game: "Craig goes into the windup... and drops the ball! The ball is rolling away, and the umpire now has called a balk! The New York Mets have given up their first run in history on a balk!" rich edwards March 14, 2002 I remember him picking off Willie Mays twice on successive throws and Ed Bouchee dropped both throws. Mays then steals second and gets into a fight with Elio Chacon. Andy April 4, 2002 After the fight, he then walked Orlando Cepeda to put runners on 1st and 2nd. He promptly picked off Cepeda and Bouchee just as promptly dropped the throw again) and I believe Mays scored. Talk about frustration. Larry Burns June 5, 2002 Roger was before my time, but I remember he was the best pitcher on an awful set of teams. He was the leader in many pitching categories up to the likes of Seaver, Koosman, Gooden, etc.. I remember him as a pitching coach and manager. He was a great pitching coach who taught Mike Scott (who up to this time sucked) the splitter. He went on to have some great years. He was an AWFUL manager. He wrote the book on over-managing. I think he used to call all the pitches. Most pitchers hated playing for him for that. He also added years on to most games because of the time delay. He was universally voted the baseball player most likely to be confused with Karl Malden. But even with all his faults he actually had quality clubs, he probably could have done better if he loosened the reins a little. mitch August 28, 2002 Roger was threatening the all-time consecutive loss record. The Mets went into the bottom of the 9th, trailing by a couple (possibly three?), but managed to load the bases. Jim Hickman lofted a soft pop fly down the left field line (all of 270 ft.) that just brushed the overhanging scorboard on its decent. Grand slam, and Craig was saved from baseball infamy! Mr. Sparkle October 10, 2002 Craig won that game to avoid tying the all time loss string on the day he decided to change his number to 13. Good move. Also, I read in the Mets encyclopedia that when he started the first ever home game for the Mets in 1962 that he surrendered the first ever run at home in Mets history by balking in a run in the first inning. In that game he was relieved by three pitchers, Bob Moorehead, Herb Moford and Clem Labine, all of which would be off of the Mets by the end of April, their first month of existence. That's all pretty weird. Banger7 October 25, 2002 Craig is way before my time, as I remember him as the Giants' manager. I recall once hearing this said about Roger Craig though: You have to be a pretty good pitcher to lose 20 games in a season. Jeff February 13, 2004 There's myth created by Jimmy Breslin's "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?" that Roger gave up the first Mets run on a balk. Not true. The Cards had runners on first and third when Stan The Man blooped a single into left and drove in the first run. The single was followed by a balk that moved the runners to second and third. The reason for the balk was Craig turned to pick off Musial but Hodges wasn't holding him on. Roger just held on to the ball. There was no ball dropped during his wind-up. No run scored on the play. As Casey said, "You can look it up." Mark May 22, 2004 This poor guy suffered not one but two 20-loss seasons with the Mets. Lucky for him, he went to St. Louis in 1964 and won a World Series ring. Good for you Roger! Jeff In Florida May 26, 2004 How many people here know that it was Roger Craig who taught Mike Scott to throw a spilt finger fastball? Feat Fan June 1, 2004 Classy quote from a classy guy: "Players who commit errors need reassurance from the pitcher, who must harbor no grudges." Doctor Worm June 4, 2005 What a stat line in '63: 5 wins, and 14 complete games! How the game has changed. The pitching staff of the 62 Mets, BTW, had more CG's (42) than wins (40). Incredible by today's standards. Mets fan in Maine January 6, 2008 Roger Craig combined with the obscure Evans Killeen, who appeared briefly with the Kansas City A's in 1959, for the Mets' first shutout in spring training in 1962. Killeen, of course, did not make the Mets. Jack Pesserilo September 25, 2009 Going way back to the Mets infancy there are some of you who may not understand something about craig's 5- 22 season. He lost I believe 3 or 4 1-0 games. One was against Koufax at the end of the season. I know Roy Sievers beat him with a late inning homer on 2 occasions . I beleive one score was 1-0, the other 2- 1.So, you ask how a pitcher can go 5-22 during a season. That's part of your answer. Also bear in mind the Mets hit a whopping.219 as a team!Now the 62 team had some offensive punch. However, does anyone realize the Mets played 28 double headers that year! That's one third of the season. That would wear any pitching staff thin.It really behooves me to see today's pitching staffs that are always babied. There are pitch counts, and the relief pitchers are in for a max of one inning. Bob P October 11, 2009 Jack, In 1963, Roger actually lost SIX games where he gave up one run. On April 14 he lost in Milwaukee 1-0 in ten innings. Roger pitched a complete game. On May 19 he lost the first game of a doubleheader in LA, 1-0. Sandy Koufax pitched a two-hit shutout for the Dodgers. On June 22 he gave up one run in eight innings to the Phillies at the Polo Grounds. Galen Cisco gave up another run in the top fo the ninth and the Mets lost 2-0. On July 27 he gave up a leadoff homer to John Bateman in the eighth inning for the only run of the game as the Mets lost in Houston, 1-0. On September 13, he gave up a run in the ninth to those same Colt .45s as Houston won at the Polo Grounds, 1-0. And on the last Wednesday of the season, September 25, he gave up a first inning unearned run (due to his own error) at Dodger Stadium and the Dodgers beat him again, 1-0. Koufax pitched five innings as a tune- up for the World Series. The average run support Roger got during his 31 starts in 1963 was 2.3 runs per game. He did pitch some stinkers during the year but he also ran into some bad luck. Jim Eckert February 18, 2011 Roger Craig - 15-46 in 2 seasons with the Mets, with that 18 game losing streak. I remember being doubly relieved because he was spared from tying a major league record at the time of 19 in a row set by Jack Nabors of the Philadelphia A's in 1916. The Mets at that time were setting enough other records for futility, so it was a highlight and joy to be spared another. But then along came Anthony Young... During the 18 game streak Tracy Stallard allegedly made a remark about the luckless Craig, "If he bought a graveyard, nobody would die!" As to Nabors, he was 1-20 during that 1916 season with a 3.47 ERA. Lifetime he was 1-25 with 3.87 ERA. Craig was a Met who played for a World Series winner before being a Met (Dodgers) and after leaving the Mets (Cardinals). I'm not sure if he was the only one. Shickhaus Franks December 2, 2011 A funny and true story: In 1989, while manager of the S.F. Giants he had gotten a telegram from the legendary Bay Area hippie rock group the Grateful Dead wishing them good luck in the postseason; Roger thought it was the name of a funeral home!!! Jonathan Stern February 21, 2012 Before the game that ended the losing streak, Craig, as player rep, spoke to the team about off-the-field issues, then said, "Boys, I'd really like to win this one tonight." Amazin'ly enough, they did. As soon as Jim Hickman's grand slam left the park, Craig ran out of the dugout and made sure that everyone touched the bases. WDM June 13, 2017 Roger had a great comment in relation to his 24 losses in 1962. He claimed that if he wasn’t a good pitcher, he would not have been given the chance to lose that many games. That’s a good point. The quality level of a pitcher cannot be measured by his personal won-lost record. This is basically a reflection of what kind of team he plays for instead of how good he is individually. A pitcher can’t possibly get the win in a game unless his team gets it with him. When one is in the starting rotation for a ball club that sets a single-season record for defeats, chances are his W and L numbers will look dismal. Roger’s 10-24 mark in ’62 is not a sign of ineffectiveness on his part. If anything, it’s of a badge of honor that shows endurance and perseverance. Flitgun Frankie September 11, 2020 Have been listening to a lot of old Met games that have been made available on the internet, from 1962 and 63. Of course, Craig was in a lot of them, and one thing I never knew about Craig was that he was a TERRIBLE hitter. Worse than Jerry Koosman. For some reason, this surprised me. The games I've heard when Craig came up to bat, Bob Murphy would say, "So far this year, Roger has one hit in 44 times at bat" or something like that, so I had to look up his batting statistics. He was a career .085 hitter, His two years with the Mets were even worse: .069 with 10 hits in 145 AB's with 72 strikeouts. Wow. His best year hitting was the year with St. Louis right after the Mets traded him, he hit .208, with the same 10 hits but in about 100 fewer AB's than it took him to get 10 hits with the Mets. He never hit a major league home run. But of course he did win 3 World Series rings, which makes up for the weak bat. But he was a real team guy and battler. Recently listened to two games from a doubleheader vs. Pittsburgh from 1963. The Mets swept the doubleheader, winning both games in 10 innings. First game, Craig had a shutout going into the ninth, Mets leading 1-0, he ended up giving up the tying run, was taken out and the Mets won in the 10th, but he got no decision. In the second game, he came in in relief late in the game and pitched an inning, but got no decision when the Mets won, again in the tenth. Imagine any pitcher doing that nowadays. (interesting note on those two games: Clemente didn't play because he was serving a five game suspension, but they never said what for during the broadcast. In the first game, Frank Thomas got kicked out by the umpire for arguing a third strike call. In the second, Smokey Burgess got thrown out by umpire Ken Burkardt for arguing a call that, from the description on the radio, sounded amazingly like the Bernie Carbo/Elrod Hendricks play from the 1970 World Series, which also involved Ken Burkhardt. Amazing Amazing Amazing.) Jack March 28, 2023 You all know Roger taught the fork ball ( r split finger fastball) to Mike Scott. Everyone knows how dominating he was (especially during the 86 NLCS against the Mets). Anyway the story goes that when Roger taught him the pitch he told him he is going to be accused of cheating. Well guess who was the first manager to complain that Scott was cheating? Of course the answer was Roger himself! I know Scotts’ nickname was “Mike Scuff”. Jack April 10, 2023 You all know Roger taught the fork ball (or split finger fastball) to Mike Scott. Everyone knows how dominating he was (especially during the 86 NLCS against the Mets). Anyway the story goes that when Roger taught him the pitch he told him he is going to be accused of cheating. Well guess who was the first manager to complain that Scott was cheating? Of course the answer was Roger himself! I know Scotts’ nickname was “Mike Scuff”. NYB Buff June 6, 2023 In June of 2023, Roger became the fourth nonagenarian (a person between the ages of 90 and 99) ex-Met to pass away within a seven-month period. He will always hold a special place in team history as the starting pitcher for their 1962 inaugural game at St. Louis. One false belief about Craig is that he dropped the ball on the mound for a balk to bring home the Cardinals' first run of that game. This is not the truth and it's scary to think how many senseless questions he may have endured about something he never did. During his time as a pitcher and coach, Roger was the proud owner of World Series rings with teams in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Detroit. Not many people can claim to be a major league champion in four different cities. As a manager in San Francisco, he led the Giants to the 1989 National League pennant before their defeat to Oakland in the earthquake-plagued Series. RIP, Roger. Alex May 22, 2024 Roger Craig represented a new beginning. He was one of the early stalwarts of those original Mets, toeing the rubber for 233 1/3 hard-luck innings in 1962, then 236 more in 1963. His 15-46 record both belies and epitomizes what he meant to New York. Through frequent losses, the veteran was still a valuable cog and an anchor for the pitching staff. He was the team's ace. He was much more than that .246 winning percentage would suggest. But he epitomized the club, as well. He symbolized the shaky, inglorious start any inchoate organization must go through before it can achieve greatness. He held the baton in the beginning, and less than a decade later it was being handed off to Tom Seaver. Because of the legacy he left with New York, in the Mets Hall of Fame project I run on another website, he was elected with 86% of the vote in his sixth try on the Veterans Committee ballot. In addition, he signed two autographs for me through the mail—the first in September 2020, the next in December 2020. But were returned in 1-2 months.

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