Roger Craig

Roger Lee Craig (February 17, 1930 – June 4, 2023) was an American pitcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). After playing for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies between and , Craig became an acclaimed pitching coach, and a manager, between and . As a player and coach, Craig was part of four World Series championship teams. As a manager, he led the 1989 San Francisco Giants to the team's first National League championship in 27 years. Playing career Craig was born in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated from Durham High School, where he played multiple sports. He began his college sports career at North Carolina State University on a basketball scholarship, but spent only one year at NC State before signing a professional baseball contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 for $6,000. Craig threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . After his first two seasons in the Dodger farm system, he missed 1952 and 1953 while performing Korean War military service. In 1955, he won ten of 12 decisions for the Triple-A Montreal Royals, then was called up to the majors in midyear. In his debut game July 17, Craig was the Dodgers' starting pitcher against the Cincinnati Redlegs at Ebbets Field. He threw a complete game victory and allowed only three hits and one earned run as Brooklyn triumphed, 6–2. He made nine more starts for the Dodgers over the next ten weeks, and relieved in a dozen games more; he threw two more complete games, earned two saves, and posted a fine 2.78 earned run average as the Dodgers won the National League pennant. He started Game 5 of the 1955 World Series against the New York Yankees, worked six innings, gave up four hits and only two runs before being relieved by Clem Labine, and was credited with Brooklyn's 5–3 victory. Two days later, on October 4, 1955, Craig's teammate Johnny Podres shut out the Yanks in Game 7, giving Brooklyn its first and only World Series championship.