Mid Nineties Mets Hitting Coach: Tommy McCraw (1992 -1996)

Tommy Lee McCraw was born November 21, 1940 in Malvern, Arizona. The McCraw family, his father a singer & mother a food worker, moved to Southern California, with Tom attending high school in Venice Beach & then Santa Monica Community College.

In 1960 the speedy first baseman / outfielder got signed by the Chicago White Sox. In 1962 he won the AA batting title hitting .362 making it to the big leagues the next year. 

MLB Career : McCraw came up to the big leagues with a lot of promise, becoming the Sox everyday first baseman in his rookie year. That season (1963) he hit .254 with 6 HRs 33 RBIs & 15 stolen bases. Tommy would steal 15 or more bases in five of his first six seasons.

McCraw spent eight seasons in Chicago during the years of their classic powder blue road uniforms, hitting 50 of his 75 career HRs. 

In 1967 he hit a career best 11 HRs, with 45 RBIs batting .236 while stealing 24 bases (4th in the league). That season the White Sox finished fourth but just three games behind the Boston Red Sox in a tight four team AL race that went down to the wire. The White Sox lost their last five games to the 10th place Kansas City A's & sixth place Washington Senators getting eliminated.

Multi- Three HR Eight RBI Game: On May 24th Tommy hit three HRs in a 14-1 win over the Minnesota Twins. He hit two three run HRs & a two run shot as well. He just missed a fourth HR sending a Jim Kaat pitch to the warning track. 

Errors Record: Also that month, he tied an MLB first base record, by committing three errors in one inning. That year he led AL first basemen in assists (93), double plays (103), total chances and errors (20). 

He came in second in the league triples (12) & tenth in steals (20). Overall he batted .229 but did bat .274 in the final month.

In 1971 he was traded to the Washington Senators in the teams last season playing in the nation’s capitol. With the Senators Tommy learned how to hit the ball with more force under the direction of Manager Ted Williams.

Inside the Park HR: That May he was involved in a very strange play in a game against the Cleveland Indians. McGraw hit a routine infield popup, a future Met shortstop Jack Heidemann along with outfielders John Lowenstein &Vada Pinson all ran after the ball then collided. The ball rolled away from the fielders & the speedy McCraw rounded the bases for an inside the park HR.

McCraw hit just .213 that season. 

Last Out For Senators: For He made the last out for the Senators in team history at RFK Stadium when he got thrown out getting caught stealing second base. 

For 1972 McCraw was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Ted Ford. He hit .258 that season & was traded to the California Angels traded for Leo Cardenas in April 1973.

 

First Angels DH: On Opening Day 1973, the first year the AL used the designated hitter, McGraw batted fifth & became the Angels first official designated hitter in franchise history going 1-4 . 

On July 15th 1973 he went 0-2 with a walk, playing right field when Nolan Ryan threw his second career no hitter.

In 99 games that season he batted .265 with three HRs. 

In 1975 McCraw had his contract purchased by the Cleveland Indians & played for the first African American manager in MLB, Frank Robinson. That season McCraw & Robinson began a friendship that would last thru the years to come.

Career Stats: In 13 seasons McCraw hit .246 with 972 hits 150 doubles, 42 triples, 75 HRs, 404 RBIs & 143 stolen bases. He posted a .309 on base % & .670 OPS playing in 1468 games played.

Retirement &Coaching Career: After his playing days Tommy became a long time coach, with the help of the knowledge he had gained as a player under the tutoring of Hall of Famers; Ted Williams & Frank Robinson. McCraw would also serve as a hitting coach under Frank Robinson four different times.

In his career McCraw coached in Cleveland (1975/ 1980-1982) San Francisco (1983-1985) Baltimore (1989-1991) then the New York Mets.

Mets Coaching Years: From 1992-1996 McCraw became the Mets hitting coach first serving under his old Angels team mate manager Jeff Torborg, then under Dallas Green & finishing out the 1996 season when Bobby Valentine took over. 

As for the disastrous 1993 season, McCraw said “The whole season was a long rerun”. That year the club batted .248 (13th in the league) although they were fourth in HRs (158) & triples (37).

The next year the Mets were 13th in batting and fist in the league in striking out. In 1995, there was improvement as the club batted fifth in the NL (.267). In 1996 the Mets had the second best batting average in the league (.270).

McCraw moved on to coach in Houston (1997-2000) Montreal (2002-2004) & moved with the team becoming the Nationals (2005) in their first season in D.C.  

Tommy then retired from the game after 26 seasons in coaching.