By Woodrow Carroll
Former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher Roger Craig died Sunday, June 4 at the age of 93. Although Craig’s MLB stats, 74-98 overall in a big league career, 1955 through 1966, left him well short of Hall of Fame consideration, he was involved in more than his share of memorable moments.
For starters, Craig broke in with the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers prior to the team’s move to Los Angeles in 1958.
Craig concluded 1955 with an unremarkable 5-3 won-loss record. But, 1955 was the year that the Dodgers broke through to win the franchise’s first World Series championship after falling short on previous occasions.
Not only was Craig a part of the Dodgers’ 1955 World Series championship team, he was the winning pitcher in game five of the Series in the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory. Yes, it was Brooklyn’s Johnny Podres who garnered the lions share of the attention with his 2-0 shutout of the New York Yankees in the deciding game seven. Still, a tip of the hat goes to Craig for being in the right place at the right time. After three years in Brooklyn, Craig went west when the Dodgers made the franchise move to Los Angeles.
In their second season on the West Coast, the Los Angeles Dodgers surprised many by winning the National League pennant in 1959. It was Craig who got the call as the Dodgers starting pitcher for game one of the World Series against the Chicago White Sox. What a delight it must have been for White Sox backers to watch their heroes pummel Craig and the Dodgers, 11-0, in game one.
The Dodgers recovered from that game one debacle to beat the White Sox, four games to two, to win the 1959 World Series. By the way, the other losing Dodgers’ pitcher in the 1959 world Series was a guy named Sandy Koufax, in game five. So, Craig ended up in good company.
Major League Baseball expanded in the early 1960s. With that, Craig found himself with the New York Mets. Job security? Yes. Victories? Not many with the Mets.
In 1962, Roger Craig was 10-24 as the ace of the Mets’ pitching staff. It was even worse in 1963 when Craig ended up 5-22. Those two seasons assured Craig of a lifetime losing record in Major League Baseball.
Craig broke in as a winner pitching for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the mid-1950s. After two rough campaigns with the Mets, Craig found himself with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964.
The 1964 season was Craig’s lone year with the Cardinals, and, it was an unspectacular 7-9 final regular-season with the Cardinals. But, Craig found himself on a pennant winner in St. Louis in 1964, and, it was in the World Series that Craig had his moment of glory.
The Cardinals and Yankees split the first two games of the 1964 Series.
With game three of the 1964 World Series tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle hit homer run off Cardinals’ reliever Barney Schultz to give New York the game victory and a 2-1 lead in the World Series.
Game four of the 1964 Series started poorly for St. Louis. Starting Cardinals’ pitcher Ray Sadecki retired nobody and was pulled with the Yankees ahead, 3-0. It was there that Craig had, to many observers, his finest hour.
In game four of the 1964 Series, Craig pitched four-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless relief. When Craig came out, St. Louis was ahead, 4-3. Ron Taylor relieved Craig and held the Yanks scoreless to even the Series at two games apiece with Craig getting the pitching victory. From that point, Bob Gibson took over by winning games five and seven to secure the championship for St. Louis.
As a manager, Craig guided the San Francisco Giants into the 1989 World Series. The 1989 World Series, between the Giants and Oakland Athletics, was overshadowed by the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
Craig had downtime as the Giants’ skipper during the 1989 World Series. Game two was played October 15, then the earthquake rumbled. Game three was played October 27. It may have been a relief to many when Oakland swept the Giants in four straight games.