Craig Swan
From The Met Wiki
Craig Swan was a pitcher for the Mets in 12 major league seasons. Swan pitched in 229 games and won 59 of them through his injury-plagued career in New York. Craig struck out 671 batters and posted a 3.72 earned run average as a Met.
From 1973 to 1975, Swan pitched 69 and two-thirds innings and recorded two wins. His victories came on May 11, 1974 (6-3 over at Chicago) and August 16, 1975 (4-2 over the Giants at Shea Stadium.)
Swan became a fixture in the Mets rotation in 1976. He started 22 games that year and 24 games in 1977 while recording 15 wins and 160 strikeouts over both seasons. Craig pitched his first major league shutout against the Braves on April 28, 1976 at Shea, striking out 11 batters. He also tossed a 3-hit shutout over the Dodgers on July 25, 1977 in Los Angeles.
In 1978, Swan led the National League with a 2.43 earned run average. He also posted his first winning record for a season with a 9-6 mark. At San Francisco on August 30, Craig pitched eight innings for the win in a 10-4 Mets victory over the Giants. The following year, Craig was the Mets' leader with 35 starts, 251 and one-third innings pitched, 10 complete games, 145 strikeouts and a 3.29 ERA. Also in 1979, Swan topped the team with 14 wins. He pitched eight and one-third innings of scoreless ball for the win in a 3-0 Mets triumph at Pittsburgh on May 15. On July 25, Craig blanked the Giants on six hits for a 3-0 win at San Francisco.
Shoulder and rib injuries reduced Swan's production in 1980 and 1981. He appeared in only 26 games with a record of 5-11 for the two years combined. Still, he had 3 complete game wins in '80, one of which was a three-hit shutout over the Braves on May 25 at Shea. Craig also pitched all nine innings for the win in a 2-1 Mets triumph over the Cardinals at Shea on June 5.
In 1982, Craig once again became the Mets' pitching leader with 11 wins and a 3.35 ERA. On August 4, he got credit for the win in a Mets' victory over the Cubs at Chicago. Swan hit his only major league home run in this game.
Craig won three more games for the Mets over the 1983 and 1984 seasons. He recorded his last victory as a Met on April 10, 1984 at Atlanta. Swan was released by the Mets a month later and pitched in two games for the California Angels in '84 to conclude his career.
