Roger Craig: Split Finger Guru

Roger Craig did not invent the split finger fastball, but he was probably it’s most prolific teacher. Perfected by Bruce Sutter, Craig picked the pitch up and learned how to teach it to his pitchers. Mike Scott and Jack Morris were two of his prized pupils. The splitter is held like a forkball basically but thrown like a fastball. Craig taught the pitch wherever he coached or managed. His name is forever linked with the pitch. Roger passed the other day at the age of 93, but he has a place in Dodger history, and was the part of two Dodger and one Cardinal World Championship teams. He did not have a sparkling record as a major leaguer, 74-98, but that was largely due to two consecutive 20 loss seasons with the Mets, 62-63. As a Dodger, used mostly as a starter, 103 games, his record was 49-38. He had 7 shutouts and 5 saves.

He was especially good down the stretch in 1959 when he went 11-5 for the Dodgers in 29 starts. He would lose his only series start, but the Dodgers beat the White Sox in 6 games. Craig was also a part of the 1955 Champs. In 21 games he went 5-3 with a 2.77 ERA. More importantly, he got the start in game 5 against the Yankees at Ebbets Field and got the win, putting the Dodgers up in the series, 3-2. They would lose game six at Yankee Stadium and then win their only title in Brooklyn in game 7 behind Johnny Podres 2-0 shutout. There was bedlam in Flatbush.

Craig was a southern boy, born in February of 1930 in Durham N.C. Roger was one of 10 children raised by John Thompson and Mamie Irene Craig. His dad was a shoe salesman and was on the road a lot. ” I don’t think my dad made more than 50 dollars a week in his life. His mom worked at Watts Hospital in Durham. Craig was child number 8. She was like a housemother at a nursing home. My parents never really had a lot, it is amazing they raised 10 kids on what little money they made. But we never felt we were poor. We never complained about it.”

Roger would always say that his parents were the biggest influence in his life, and that explains his rock-hard roots. His journey to the mound began as a shortstop. He was big, 6’4″, tall for a SS now, but huge by 40’s and 50’s standards. Roger was slender and was only the #2 pitcher on his high school team. ” We had an outstanding pitcher, Julius Moore. We ended up being the two best in the state. Moore signed with the Yankees, but broke his wrist in a car accident and never made it above Class-B. But he had a major league arm in high school. He’d strike out 17-18 a game, and he had better control than I.”

Craig was scouted by what was called in those days, a bird-dog. They would scout on a free-lance basis, amateur prospects and report to Frank Rickey, the brother of Dodger owner, Branch Rickey. It was Frank who signed Craig for the Dodgers.

Craig started out in Class-D ball at Valdosta, in the Georgia-Florida League. He did well enough, 14-7 3.13 to get promoted to Class-B Newport News where he pitched in six games, lost one and was tattooed for a 7.17 ERA. He spent 51 at Newport News and posted a 14-11 3.67 ERA in 38 games, 10 of which were starts.

He was then drafted and spent the next 2 years in the service. ” I was lucky, I was pretty good at basketball and baseball, and I played both for the Fort Jackson, S.C. post. He was disappointed because all of his friends went to Korea, but in those days, you did what you were told, so even though he wanted to go, he stayed at Fort Jackson. Three future major leaguers caught him during that time, Ed Bailey, (Reds,) Frank House, (Tigers) and Heywood Sullivan, (Red Sox) and all told him he had the stuff to stick in the majors.

In 1954 he tripped and broke his elbow. He talked the doctor into not putting it in a cast. The next day he left for spring training. Al Campanis saw him doing one-arm push-ups and came over and yanked on his left arm. Nice move Al, Craig was out of action until midseason. Even with his truncated year, he pitched for three teams. Newport News, 8-3, Pueblo, 1-1 and Elmira where he pitched in 3 games.

Craig started 1955 at AAA Montreal. He was 10-2 with a 3.54 ERA when he was called up to help Brooklyn in their pennant push. As stated before, he went 5-3 and won game 5 of the World Series. Pretty heady stuff for a rookie.

In 1956 he was in the Dodger rotation. Craig was 12-11 in 35 games, 32 of them starts. The Dodgers would win the pennant again, and once more face the Yankees. This time things were reversed. The Dodgers won the first two at Ebbets Field. They then lost the next three at Yankee Stadium, won game six 1-0 behind Clem Labine, but lost game 7, 9-0 when the Yankees pummeled Dodger ace, Don Newcombe. Roger lost game 3, 5-3 giving up 4 runs, then in game 7, he was tagged for 4 more.

He went 6-9 in 57, the Dodgers last year in Brooklyn. He hurt his arm in the very last game played by the Dodgers that year. It was raining and sleeting when he pitched that day in Philadelphia. ” I know now that it was a rotator cuff injury. But this was 1957, I had to learn how to pitch all over again.

He was sent to AAA St. Paul to start the season. His arm was very sore. He struggled through 38 games at AAA going 5-17 with a 3.91 ERA. His manager, Max Macon, gave him the shock treatment. He told Craig near the end of the season, ” we got a chance to win this thing, so you would be better off to go back home and get your education, you are never pitching in the big leagues again.” That lit a fire under Roger and he tossed a couple of complete games down the stretch.

In 1959, he pitched in 14 games for Spokane of the PCL (AAA). He had a 6-7, 3.19 with six complete games, one of them a shutout, and he was called up to the Dodgers, who were now in their second year in LA and locked in a pennant race. He went 11-5 in 29 games, 17 of which were starts. He had 4 shutouts and an ERA of 2.06, which would have won the ERA title, but he was 1 1/3rd of an inning short of the required 154 innings to qualify for the title. Sam Jones of the Giants won the title with a 2.83 mark. Craig was in a 7-way tie for the most shutouts with Drysdale, Jones, Antonelli, Buhl, Burdette, and Spahn.

This was a different Dodger team than the one he played with in Brooklyn. Snider and Hodges were still there as were Furillo and Gilliam, but Furillo was merely a sub, Reese was retired and now a coach. Robinson was retired and Campy was injured and out of the game. Moon was the new left fielder, and Wills was now the SS.

After tying the Braves for the pennant, and then beating them in a two-game playoff, they beat the White Sox in six games for LA’s first championship in their second year of existence. Craig was used more and more as a reliever in 60 and 61. He then was allowed to be taken by the Mets in the expansion draft. Hodges and Neal went to NY with him. Neal in a trade, and Hodges in the draft.

He gained some notoriety in New York as he posted a 10-24 then 5-22 for the Mets in 62-63 including losing 18 straight decisions over those two seasons. He had to be good to lose so many and the Mets were so inept. Think about it, he had 27 complete games over those two seasons. That is two more than Kershaw has in his ENTIRE career. And his ERA was just a tad over 4. He also saved 5 games for the Mets over those two seasons.

He was traded that winter to the Cardinals for Bill Wakefield and George Altman. He went 7-9 for the Birds and was part of the World Champion Cardinals, getting his third ring. He was 1-0 in the series with 2 appearances against the Yanks, both out of the Cardinals pen. He was traded to the Reds with Charlie James, for Bob Purkey. He was 1-4 for the Reds in 65. He was released at the beginning of the 66 season and signed with the Phillies. He pitched in 14 games for the Phils, going 2-1 and he was released in July. He pitched for a while in the minors, then his arm gave out and he quit.

He became a scout for the Dodgers in 67, and then was hired to manage Albuquerque in 1968. In 1969 Buzzie Bavasi, now the GM of the newly established San Diego Padres, hired Roger as the Padres first pitching coach. Roger was their coach for four seasons, and then he was replaced by former teammate, Johnny Podres.

He spent another year in the Dodgers system then moved on to coach the Astros, 74-75, and then back to the Padres. In 77 the Padres lost 93 games under two managers. Al Dark and John McNamara. In 1978, during spring training with only two weeks to go before the season started, the Padres fired Al Dark for miscommunication with his players and elevated Craig to manager. It was a shock to Craig, but at the time he said it was the best shock of his life.

The first thing he did was change the atmosphere so his players could be relaxed and just play the game. He led the Padres to the first winning season in franchise history, 84-78. But the next season, 79, they regressed, and he was replaced by Jerry Coleman, who was at the time, the Padres broadcaster.

The firing proved beneficial to Craig. Sparky Anderson, who was colleague of Craig on the 69 Padres, had taken over as manager of Detroit in 1979. He hired Craig as the Tigers pitching coach. It was there that his reputation for teaching the split-finger fastball blossomed. His pupils, mainly Jack Morris and Dan Petry led the Tigers to a 35-5 start in 84. They went on to win the pennant, and beat the Padres in the World Series. Roger had his fourth ring.

But Detroit’s front office, refused his request for a salary increase, he retired to his San Diego County ranch. His retirement did not last long. On September 18th, he was hired as manager by the Giants to replace Jim Davenport. The team went 6-12 the rest of the way, but from 1986-1990, they never had a losing record.

In 1987, the Giants hit 205 homers, second in the majors and won 90 games. Getting into the post season for the first time since 1971. They lost a seven-game series to the Cardinals. Just missing going to the World Series. Along the way, Craig brought new popularity to the old baseball phrase, Humm baby. It was chatter infielders used to use to get the pitcher to put more mustard on their fastball. Brad Gulden a third string catcher behind Bob Brenley and current Padre’s manager, Bob Melvin, was the original Humm baby. He had the moniker attached to him by Craig. Eventually it spread to mean the entire team.

In 1989, the Giants won their first pennant since 1962. They were led by Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell. They beat the Cubs in five games in the NLCS but were swept by Oakland in the Series. That series was marred by the Loma Prieta earthquake that struck just before the start of game 3. The quake killed 63 and there were about 3700 injured. It delayed the series 10 days.

The Giants began a slow decline, and after the 92 season, the team was put up for sale. There was a deal in place to sell the team to a Tampa-St. Pete businessman, Vince Naimoli, and they would move to Tampa for the 93 season. But the league rejected the deal and instead the Giants were sold to a group of SF businessmen dedicated to keeping the Giants in San Francisco. That group was led by Peter Magowan. The team then fired Craig, and he was replaced by Dusty Baker. They signed free agent Barry Bonds.

Craig retired after that season, but he was still available for advice if asked for and needed. He helped Bob Brenley when he managed the D-Backs. He did that for three years, and Brenley gave him a 2001 World Series ring that he paid for out of his own pocket. He told Craig, ” you taught me how to be a major league manager.”

“It is nice to know that people do not forget you.” Roger said. He helped Alan Trammel, who managed the Tigers for a couple of years, in spring training. But then after the 2003 season he retired for good. He went back to Detroit to help them celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1984 Championship. He did that despite the fact that the day before he learned he had prostate cancer.

His family was very important to him. He spent as much time as possible with them. A lot of that had to do with coming from a large family. Craig went into retirement and he said that once that happened, he played a lot of golf. He wrote a book in 1984 which chronicled the Tigers run to the title. The book was titled, ” Inside Pitch: Roger Craig’s ’84 Tigers Journal”.

We lost Roger earlier this month at the age of 93. With his passing, there is only two living members of the 55 team. Sandy Koufax and Carl Erskine.