Roger Craig

Roger Lee Craig
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 191 lbs.
Born: February 17, 1930 in Durham, NC
Signed: 1950 by the Brooklyn Dodgers
Acquired: via the Expansion Draft from the Los Angeles Dodgers, October 1961
Departed: traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for George Altman and Bill Wakefield, November 1963
Died: June 4, 2022 in San Diego, CA

 

The Opening Day starting pitcher for the first Mets team ever, Roger was one of the Mets' workhorses during their first two seasons, losing a staggering total of 46 games. He had a winning record for the rest of his career, though, appearing in four World Series, and then went on to a long and successful second career as a coach and a manager. He's pictured here as the manager of the Giants on a 1992 Topps Gold Winners card. Nearly a dozen more Roger Craig items are shown below.  For an excellent biography about his time in baseball, including the invention and development of the split-fingered fastball, click on the SABR banner at the very bottom of this page.

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PITCHING RECORD (team-leading totals in red)

YEAR CLUB     G  GS CG     IP  W  L  PCT    H   R  ER  SO  BB ShO SV   ERA
==========================================================================
1955 Bro NL  21  10  3   90.2  5  3 .625   81  37  28  48  43   0  2  2.78
1956 Bro NL  35  32  8  199.0 12 11 .522  169  90  82 109  87   2  1  3.71
1957 Bro NL  32  13  1  111.1  6  9 .400  102  58  57  69  47   0  0  4.61
1958 L A NL   9   2  1   32.0  2  1 .667   30  20  16  16  12   0  0  4.50
1959 L A NL  29  17  7  152.2 11  5 .688  122  49  35  76  45   4  0  2.06
1960 L A NL  21  15  6  115.2  8  3 .727   99  48  42  69  43   1  0  3.27
1961 L A NL  40  14  2  112.2  5  6 .455  130  87  77  63  52   0  2  6.15
1962 *METS*  42  33 13  233.1 10 24 .294  261 133 117 118  70   0  3  4.51
1963 *METS*  46  31 14  236.0  5 22 .185  249 117  99 108  58   0  2  3.78
1964 StL NL  39  19  3  166.0  7  9 .438  180  76  60  84  35   0  5  3.25
1965 Cin NL  40   0  0   64.1  1  4 .200   74  33  26  30  25   0  3  3.64
1966 Phi NL  14   0  0   22.2  2  1 .667   31  15  14  13   5   0  1  5.56
==========================================================================
METS TOTALS  88  64 27  469.1 15 46 .246  510 250 216 226 128   0  5  4.14
OTHER CLUBS 280 122 31 1067.0 59 52 .532 1018 513 437 577 394   7 14  3.69
==========================================================================
CAREER TOTS 368 186 58 1536.1 74 98 .430 1528 763 653 803 522   7 19  3.83

 

MANAGERIAL RECORD

YEAR CLUB      G    W   L  PCT FINISH                   
=======================================================
1978 S D NL  162  84  78 .519   4th                    
1979 S D NL  161  68  93 .422   5th                    
1985 S F NL   18   6  12 .333   6th                    
1986 S F NL  162  83  79 .512   3rd                    
1987 S F NL  162  90  72 .556   1st *NL West Champions*
1988 S F NL  162  83  79 .512   4th                    
1989 S F NL  162  92  70 .568   1st    *NL Champions*  
1990 S F NL  162  85  77 .525   3rd                    
1991 S F NL  162  75  87 .463   4th                    
1992 S F NL  162  72  90 .444   5th                    
=======================================================
CAREER TOTS 1475 738 737 .500                          

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This is a list of the cards of this player that I had in my Mets collection before I transferred the ownership of said collection to another diligent and capable Mets fan. The cards that are listed in light gray print and struck through are cards that were sold for charity prior to my divestiture.  The cards listed in white text are the ones that still remained until that final deal.  Items listed in green I kept out of the deal, just so I'd have something to display in my office and den.  At the bottom and listed in orange text are cards that I picked up after the dealing was done, in order to maintain a certain continuity at this site; that is, so I'd have a card to show you at the top of the page, and maybe in the autographs and game-used areas.  If an orange card is struck through, it has also departed the collection.  I am still accepting donations, should you feel so moved.  Contact me by following this link: NYMHall.

1956 Topps

1960 Topps

1963 Post

1947-66 Exhibits

1956 Topps #63a (gray back)

1957 Topps #173

1958 Topps #194

1957 Topps

1960 Leaf

1963 Topps

1977 Padres
schedule card

1991 Topps

1960 Leaf #8
1960 Topps #62

1962 Salada Coin

1962 Jay Publishing Mets
1962 Topps #183a (normal tint)

1963 Fleer #47
1963 Post #200
1963 Topps #197

1964 Topps #295

1965 Topps #411

1974 Topps #31 (Houston Astros Field Leaders)

1976 SSPC #628

1977 San Diego Padres schedule card

1978 TCMA The 1960's #0201

1979 Topps #479 (San Diego Padres Team)

1947-66 Exhibits

1989 Baseball Talk

1982 Renata Galasso 20 Years of New York Met Baseball #22

1986 Mother's Cookies San Francisco Giants #1
1986 Topps #111

1987 Mother's Cookies San Francisco Giants #1
1987 Topps #193

1988 Mother's Cookies San Francisco Giants #1
1988 Topps #654

1989 Pacific Baseball Legends #145
1989 Topps #744
1989 Topps/LJN Toys Baseball Talk #102

1990 K Mart Superstars #33
1990 Mother's Cookies San Francisco Giants #1
1990 Target Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers #144
1990 Topps #351

1991 Nobody Beats the Wiz Mets #87
1991 O-Pee-Chee #579
1991 Topps #579
1991 Topps Micro #579

1992 Mother's Cookies San Francisco Giants #1
1992 Topps #109
1992 Topps Gold Winners #109
1992 Topps Micro #109

2001 Fleer Greats of the Game (autographed)
2001 Fleer Greats of the Game Dodger Blues (game-used jersey)

2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #29

2017 Topps Rediscover Topps Buybacks Gold (1989 Topps #744)

Other Roger Craig memorabilia in my collection:

1962 Salada Coins #189

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"My two seasons with the Mets were a blessing. It taught me how to cope with adversity."

-- Roger Craig 3

 

"If he bought a graveyard nobody would die."

-- Tracy Stallard 3

 

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