Tug McGraw
From The Met Wiki
Frank Edwin “Tug” McGraw was a pitcher for the Mets in the 1960s and 1970s. He had a 3.61 earned run average over 361 games (326 in relief) as a member of the team. McGraw had 47 wins and 85 saves with the Mets.
McGraw began his major league career with 25 starts and 31 relief appearances between 1965 and 1967. In ’65, he got his first major league win with a complete game against the Cardinals for a 4-2 Mets victory at Shea Stadium on August 22. Four days later, he recorded the Mets’ first win ever over the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax in a 5-2 triumph at Shea. Tug pitched a two-hitter for a 5-1 Mets win in the second game of a doubleheader at Philadelphia on August 21, 1966. He pitched seven inning for a win as the Mets defeated the Braves, 4-3, at Atlanta three days later. On September 22, 1967, McGraw also struck out 10 batters in an 8-5 Mets win over the Astros in the second game of two at Shea.
After spending the 1968 season at AAA-level Jacksonville, McGraw pitched more than 100 innings in 42 games with the Mets in 1969. He had 9 wins and 12 saves during the team’s World Championship season. On May 31, Tug struck out four batters in two innings for a save in a 4-2 Mets victory over the Giants at Shea. He had six innings of scoreless relief to chalk up the win in a 6-4 Mets victory in 14 innings at St. Louis on July 2. McGraw recorded three strikeouts in two innings and got a save in a 1-0 Mets win over the Braves at Shea on August 2. He was the winning pitcher in the Mets’ 1-0 triumph over the Giants on August 19 at Shea. Tug pitched three innings for the win at St. Louis on September 15 as the Mets defeated the Cardinals, 4-3. He also got the win in the Mets’ 3-2 victory in 11 innings over the Cardinals at Shea on September 23 that clinched a tie for the National League East Division title.
In Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, McGraw pitched three shutout innings against the Braves at Atlanta. He earned the save in the October 5 game as the Mets came out with an 11-6 win.
In his first year as a pure reliever, McGraw led all Mets pitchers with 57 appearances in 1970. He won four games and saved 10 while recording 81 strikeouts for the season. At Pittsburgh on April 7, Tug got the win in the Mets’ first ever Opening Day win as the team came out with a 5-3 triumph in 11 innings. He struck out three batters in three innings pitched for the win in a 4-3 Mets victory in 14 innings over the Astros at Shea on May 31. McGraw pitched a perfect 10th inning for the win in a 2-1 Mets triumph over the Dodgers on July 24 at Shea. He had five strikeouts in three shutout innings for a save in a 6-5 Mets win over the Padres on July 31 at Shea. Tug also struck out five in two and two-thirds scoreless innings to get the win as the Mets defeated the Phillies, 5-4, at Philadelphia on September 23.
McGraw had 109 strikeouts and a 1.70 ERA in 1971. He had 11 wins and eight saves in his 51 game appearances. Tug came away with the win with two scoreless innings in a 1-0 Mets victory over the Reds at Shea on April 11. At San Francisco on June 1, he struck out four batters and got a save in the Mets’ 5-4 win. McGraw pitched six shutout innings to earn the win in the Mets’ 9-4 victory at Houston on July 15. He retired all five batters he faced and got the win in a 4-3 Mets triumph over the Dodgers on August 29 at Shea. Tug had seven strikeouts in five innings pitched to gain the win as the Mets defeated the Phillies, 6-5, in a doubleheader opener on September 4 at Philadelphia. At Montreal on September 8, he hit his only major league home run.
In 1972, McGraw led the Mets with 54 pitching appearances. He set a team record with 27 saves during the year and was the winning pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game at Atlanta. In the season opener at Shea on April 15, Tug pitched the final three innings for the save in a 4-0 Mets win over the Pirates. He had five strikeouts in five innings and got the win in a 4-3 Mets victory over the Dodgers in 14 innings at Shea on May 10. McGraw struck out three batters in the ninth inning to get the save in the Mets’ 1-0 win over the Giants on May 13 at Shea. He had four strikeouts in two innings in getting a save in a 5-4 Mets victory at Houston on June 21. At Shea on August 15, Tug pitched one and two-thirds innings to finish off a 5-0 Mets win over the Braves.
McGraw won his last five decisions after losing his first six in 1973. He had 25 saves for the season and coined the Ya Gotta Believe catchphrase as the Mets headed to the National League pennant. On April 6, Tug got the save in the Mets’ 3-0 win over the Phillies in the season opener at Shea. He finally got his first win in a 4-3 Mets victory over the Dodgers at Shea on August 22. McGraw pitched four innings in getting a win as the Mets defeated the Cardinals, 6-4, in 10 innings on August 31 at St. Louis. He got his 25th and final save of the season in a 6-4 Mets victory at Chicago on October 1 to clinch the East Division title.
In Game 5 of the National League Championship Series in ’73, McGraw got a save in the Mets’ 7-2 win over the Reds that clinched the pennant on October 10 at Shea. He had eight strikeouts in six innings and got the win in Game 2 of the ’73 World Series as the Mets defeated the Athletics, 10-7 in 12 innings at Oakland on October 14. Tug also got the save in Game 5 of the World Series in the Mets’ 2-0 win over the Athletics on October 18.
Tug pitched 88 and two-thirds innings in an injury-plagued 1974 season. He recorded six wins and three saves in his final year with the Mets. Tug earned saves in the Mets' 9-2 and 3-1 wins at Philadelphia on April 7 and June 21, respectively. He got the win with two perfect innings in a 4-1 Mets triumph over the Expos on July 28 at Shea. In a rare start on September 1, McGraw pitched a five-hit shutout for a 3-0 Mets win over the Braves at Shea. This was Tug’s last win as a member of the Mets. He recorded his final Mets save in the team’s 3-2 victory at Montreal on September 16.
McGraw was traded with Don Hahn and Dave Schneck to the Phillies for Mac Scarce, Del Unser and John Stearns on December 3, 1974. Tug pitched 10 seasons with the Phils, with whom he became part of a World Champion in 1980. On September 25, 1984, McGraw gave up a run-scoring triple to Mookie Wilson in a 6-4 Mets win over the Phillies at Shea. This was Tug’s last pitch of his career.
McGraw was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1993.
