Roger Craig
From The Met Wiki
Roger Craig was a pitcher for the Mets in 1962 and 1963. He won 15 games and pitched 469 and one-third innings with an earned run average of 4.14 as a member of the team. Craig had 226 strikeouts with the Mets.
Craig began his career with the World Champion Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955. He remained with the Dodgers as they moved to Los Angeles and was a member of their 1959 World Championship team. Roger was taken by the Mets in the expansion draft following the 1961 season.
Roger was the Mets' top pitcher in the '62 season. He led the team with 10 wins and 233 and one-third innings pitched. His 13 complete games and 118 strikeouts tied him for the team lead with Jay Hook and Al Jackson, respectively. Craig was the Mets' starting pitcher in their inaugural game on April 11, 1962. In the game at St. Louis, Craig allowed five runs and eight hits in three innings as the Mets lost to the Cardinals, 11-4. This was Roger's first of 24 losses on the season.
On April 28, Craig got his first win of the '62 season in an 8-6 Mets victory over the Phillies at the Polo Grounds. He recorded the Mets' first save ever in the team's 7-5 win in 12 innings at Philadelphia on May 6. Roger also had a complete game win over St. Louis on July 6 and recorded his tenth win of the season on September 23 against the Cubs.
In 1963, Craig again led the Mets with 236 innings pitched. He had a 5-22 record for the season and endured a losing streak of 18 games. In an effort to change his luck, Roger donned uniform #13 (switching from his usual #38) when facing the Cubs on August 9. In the game, Craig pitched the full nine innings and became the winning pitcher when Jim Hickman hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth for a 7-3 Mets victory. This was the only time a Mets player wore number 13 until Neil Allen began to wear it regularly in 1981. On September 9, Roger got his last win as a Met with a 6-3 complete game at Philadelphia.
On November 4, 1963, Craig was traded to the Cardinals for George Altman and Bill Wakefield. In 1964, Roger was the winning pitcher in Game 4 of the World Series, which was won by St. Louis in seven. Craig pitched the 1965 season with the Reds and finished his career with the Phillies in 1966.
