24
2013
What Pitcher Won Most Games For Mets Without Ever Winning One For Another Team?
An article by Barry Duchan
I was going to start this post with “here’s a trivia question for you” but then I remembered Art Rust Jr., the long-time sports talk host on WABC-AM who got annoyed whenever someone would start off a call with that phrase. Rust would respond “it’s history, not trivia”. So, this is my question on an important piece of Mets’ history :
What pitcher won the most games for the Mets without ever winning a game for any other major league team in his entire career?
I posed this question to several Mets’ fans and only one came up with the correct answer without researching it. Can you?
One of the better guesses was Mike Pelfrey who won 50 games with the Mets and has yet to appear with another major league team. But Mike is now a member of the Twins and unless he somehow winds up back with the Mets before winning a game elsewhere, won’t have a chance at the record.
Another pretty good guess was Sid Fernandez, but El Sid managed to get in a few wins for Baltimore after his tenure as a Met was over.
No, the answer is…
Husky righthander Craig Swan who was the ace of the Mets’ staff during the down years of 1978 and 1979. Although he pitched for the Mets for all or part of 12 seasons, various injuries and ailments had him in and out of the rotation most years. Originally drafted in the third round of the 1972 amateur draft out of Arizona State, he had a few shots with the Mets before staying up for good in 1976. Although Swan never became the star pitcher Mets’ fans were hoping for, there were several notable highlights in his career.
In 1978, he led the National League with a 2.43 ERA while going 9-6 for the last-place Mets. The following year, he pitched 251 innings, winning 14 games for the Mets who again finished last. He also came back from a torn rotator cuff injury in 1982 to post an 11-7 record before injuries sidelined him again. Yet, possibly his most unique achievement is that he still holds the record for most career wins by a Mets pitcher who never won a game for any other major league team with 59. He did have a very brief late-career stint with the Angels, but didn’t win a game with them.
An interesting anecdote about Swan involves his potential trade to the Angels in 1979. The Mets were discussing dealing Swan and Elliott Maddox for veteran first baseman Willie Mays Aikens and a young minor league infielder named Dickie Thon.
After Mrs. Payson’s death, her daughter Lorinda De Roulet became principal owner and Chairman of the Board. Mrs. De Roulet, hardly a baseball expert, reportedly vetoed the deal when she remarked “We can’t do that. Thon is just a baby”. Thon of course wound up in Houston where he became the regular shortstop for several years.
Swan who was always seemingly receiving treatment for one ailment or another had his career shortened by arm trouble. One of the many treatments he underwent in hopes of resurrecting his career was Rolfing or Structural Integration. Swan was so impressed by the technique that he went to school to learn it and today is a highly successful licensed Rolfing practitioner in Connecticut.
About the Author: Barry Duchan
I've been following the Mets since 1962. Have to admit I was a Yankee fan as a kid, but I found it to be so much more interesting to see how a young team could build itself up rather than following a team where the season didn't really begin until October. I remember them all - Casey, Marv, ChooChoo, Don Bosch, The Stork, etc. As the years went on, I became more and more of a Mets fan, and a Yankee hater once Steinbrenner and Billy Martin entered the picture. After retiring, I relocated with my family from Long Island to Chapel Hill, NC in 2005. I spend a lot of my time now checking out all the various Mets blogs. Fortunately, I still get to watch almost all of the Mets games (except those that are blacked out here).
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 28 | .600 | - |
| Nationals | 34 | 35 | .493 | 7.5 |
| Phillies | 34 | 37 | .479 | 8.5 |
| Mets | 25 | 40 | .385 | 14.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 47 | .319 | 19.5 |
Last updated: 06/18/2013
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gotta admit, there were some good staches back in the 70s.
If Swan had pitched about 20 Years later he would probably had a much better career…
Sugical procedures have advanced that much….
I got to see a lot of Craig Swan at that time…
He was a classic case of trying to do too much to make up for the lack of team behind him.
Too bad but he was one of the few UNWASTED tickets in my Season ticket package back then.
Great job, Barry! This piece was right up my alley, especially since Swan started the first game I ever attended at Shea Stadium.
As an addendum to your piece, I was looking up which pitcher had the most wins in Mets history without ever getting another decision for another team. (For the record, Swan registered all 59 of his major league victories as a Met, but did go 0-1 for the Angels in 1984.)
As of today, the answer would be Mike Pelfrey. But as soon as he gets a decision for the Twins this year, the new correct answer will be … (drum roll, please) … Jonathon Niese!
Niese has a 35-32 career record, with every decision coming as a member of the Mets. As soon as Pelfrey gets his first decision as a Twin, that will mean all 29 pitchers ahead of Niese on the Mets’ all-time wins list have recorded at least one decision with another team.
With Niese signed for four more seasons, I’m hoping he eventually surpasses Swan as the Met with the most wins without ever having won one for another team. As Mets fans, we should hope he gets there by the end of the 2014 season!
That’s an interesting observation. I bet Niese would have already achieved that mark if not for his slew of unfortunate injuries both in the majors where it had a direct impact, and also in the minors which slowed his arrival. I was very happy when Sandy Alderson signed him to that team friendly deal which could prove to be one of the biggest bargain deals the Mets have had in a long time.
Off Topic: Adam Rubin just tweeted that fans can follow a game cast of Mets vs Univ. of Michigan.
http://www.mgoblue.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mbasebl.html?event=1224373&school=mich&sport=mbasebl&camefrom=&startschool=&
@AdamRubinESPN
Univ. of Michigan web site has a gamecast of the split-squad game vs. #Mets: http://www.mgoblue.com Amazin’s lead 3-2 in 5th.
twitter.com/AdamRubinESPN/statuses/305751517019926528
Wilmer Flores went deep from the lead off spot.
Another off topic, Spin just went yard again against the Astros.
He’s trying to make it difficult to ignore him.
He could hit five grand slams today, but who cares, the guy is a cancer. For the same reasons most fans didn’t want any part of Dimitri Young, Melky, Zambrano the same rules apply for Spinster. Once a cancer always a cancer.
there is no evidence of him being a cancer. He has attitude problems, but he’s done nothing to warrant the title of cancer.
The reason he’s not making the team will be because Duda, Kirk and Baxter give them a better chance to win then he does…
I always thought Swan was very underrated as a pitcher, and he never got the credit he deserved because of how bad the team was at the time.
Barry, your posts always seem to hit a high note for me and whenever I spot a new post from you I always know it will be a satisfying read. I’m so glad that there’s still a few old timers like me around and that we still have the same passion for the Mets as we did 50 years ago.
And Curtis Granderson is out for 10 weeks with a fractured wrist.
So for all the talk that Michael Baron’s analysis discovered Duda’s swing no longer has a hitch and covers more of the plate and looks less busy, so far in the spring he’s 0-6 with five swinging strikeouts. Not to mention two base hits allowed that he misjudged in left field. LOL Analysis by Baron at it’s best.
NOTE: Are you guys doing game previews anymore? I had no idea where to place this comment and you got rid of the shoutbox. Doesn’t look like much foresight went into your decisions and basically why come to MMO for games anymore? You ruined a good thing.
I had that card back in the day.