Books and articles about Roger Craig

In 1986 Sports Illustrated called Roger Craig "the acknowledged maestro of the split-fingered fastball." In 1985 he taught the split-finger to the Astros' Mike Scott, who won the 1986 Cy Young award. Craig had previously managed the 1978-79 Padres and served as a scout and pitching coach, notably in Detroit, where he taught Jack Morris the split-finger. As a manager, Craig is noted for one-run tactics and for calling lots of pitchouts. He won the NL West title in 1987 and the NL pennant in 1989.

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RELATED LINKS » 1957: Dodgers, Giants Bid New York Adieu » 1962: First Franchise Games from The New York Mets Encyclopedia by Peter C. Bjarkman » 1963: Roger Craig from The New York Mets Encyclopedia by Peter C. Bjarkman » 1986: Player Caught Stealing Four Times in 12-Inning Game Submissions » Choo Choo Coleman: Tough To Pitch To by Henry Balfanz Ask The Experts » Who led the Mets in saves in 1962? » What was the 1957 Dodgers' lineup? Around the Web » KID STUFF: Bonderman strikes out 14 for 1st shutout, complete game from freep.com » Roger Craig from baseball-reference.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

With the fledgling Mets in 1962-63, Craig became the first pitcher to lead the NL in losses two straight years (24 in 1962, 22 in 1963). He tied a league record in 1963 by dropping 18 straight decisions. Conversely, he tied for the NL lead with four shutouts for Los Angeles in 1959, and won two World Series games, one each with Brooklyn and St. Louis. (TJ)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » July 17, 1955: In what would be their most important move of the season, the Brooklyn Dodgers bring up rookie pitchers Roger Craig and Don Bessent from the minor leagues. They immediately pay dividends as they beat the Reds in both ends of a doubleheader. Craig wins 6-2 and Bessent matches it 8-5. » October 1, 1955: Surprise Brooklyn starter rookie Roger Craig pitches 6 innings for the 5-3 win. Two HRs by Duke Snider and one by Sandy Amoros in the first 5 innings prove too much for New York. Snider, who hit 4 HRs in the 1952 WS, becomes the first player in history to do this more than once. » September 29, 1957: The Brooklyn Dodgers lose their final game before moving west, a 2-1 loss to Philadelphia. Roger Craig starts and Koufax relieves as Gilliam scores the only Dodger run. » June 19, 1959: Veteran P Roger Craig, recently brought up from Spokane, makes his first start this year for the Dodgers. He gives up five hits in beating the Reds, 6–2. » July 9, 1959: Roger Craig relieves in the 3rd and pitches 11 scoreless innings, throwing just 88 pitches, to give the Dodgers a 4–3 victory over the Braves. The loss drops the Braves from 1st place to 3rd, as Brooklyn takes over 2nd place. » July 27, 1959: The Dodgers move into first place on Roger Craig's 2–0 win. Joe Pignatano and Don Zimmer hit solo home runs. A year ago on this date the Dodgers were in last place. » October 5, 1959: In Game 4, the Dodgers edge the White Sox 5-4, as Larry Sherry wins in relief of Roger Craig. The Sox tie the game at 4-4 after spotting the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. The previous day's record-crowd is bested by today's attendance of 92,650. » October 10, 1961: An expansion draft to stock the new National League clubs takes place in Cincinnati. Selecting 1st, Houston takes Giants SS Eddie Bressoud; the Mets take 31-year-old Giant C Hobie Landrith. Second choices are Bob Aspromonte (45s) and Elio Chacon. Other Houston selections include Bobby Shantz, Ken Johnson, Dick Farrell, and Bob Lillis. New York takes Roger Craig, Gil Hodges, Don Zimmer, Gus Bell, Jay Hook, among others. Also, Cards C Chris Cannizzaro, out much of this year due to an appendectomy. » May 15, 1962: Cubs P Barney Schultz ties Roy Face's major-league record by relieving in his 9th consecutive game for Chicago. Today's effort doesn't help as the Cubs lose, 6–5 in 13 innings against the Mets. Roger Craig, enroute to a 10–24 year, is the winner, while Tony Balsamo loses to notch his only career decision. » June 22, 1963: Philadelphia CF Tony Gonzalez plays his 200th straight errorless game to help rookie Ray Culp beat Roger Craig and the Mets 2–0. » July 19, 1963: With one out and a man on in the 9th, Roy Sievers hits his 300th career home run to give the Phils a 2–1 win over the Mets. Roger Craig is the victim, his 13th straight loss. » August 9, 1963: Roger Craig's National League record-tying 18-game losing streak (broken by teammate Craig Anderson) ends thanks to Jim Hickman's 9th-inning grand slam off Lindy McDaniel. New York beats the Cubs 7–3. Craig will be on the wrong end of a shutout nine times this year: only Bugs Raymond (11 in 1908) and Walter Johnson (10 in 1909) have had more shutouts thrown at them in a year. » November 4, 1963: The Cards acquire P Roger Craig from the Mets for OF George Altman and P Bill Wakefield. Craig was the National League's top loser the past two seasons with the lowly Mets, dropping 24 and 22 games. » May 12, 1964: The Cardinals Curt Simmons continues to beat up on the Phillies, winning 4–2, with relief help from Roger Craig. Since the Phillies released him in 1960, Simmons is 13–2 against them. » September 23, 1964: The Mets surprise the Cards and Roger Craig, 2–1, scoring the winner on an error. The Cards only run is Bill White's homer off Galen Cisco. Cards manager Johnny Keane is quoted as saying he has no idea whether he will be asked to return as Cards manager next year. » December 14, 1964: St. Louis trades P Roger Craig and OF Charlie James to the Reds for P Bob Purkey. » March 21, 1978: The Padres fire manager Alvin Dark, replacing him with pitching coach Roger Craig. Dark becomes the second manager after the Cubs' Phil Cavarretta in 1954 to be fired during spring training. » September 30, 1979: Two ML managers bite the dust. The Padres fire Roger Craig and the Blue Jays do the same to Roy Hartsfield. San Diego will hire broadcaster Jerry Coleman the next day, while Toronto will hire scout Bobby Mattick on October 18th. » December 16, 1992: The Giants name Dusty Baker as manager to replace Roger Craig.