Swan was born in Van Nuys, California. At age 14, he pitched for Long Beach in the PONY League, hurled a no-hitter, and was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium before Game 5 of the 1965 World Series; his pitch was televised and can be seen on the TV broadcast, with announcer Ray Scott describing his pitching exploits. At age 17, was picked in the 23rd round of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Rather than sign as a low-round pick, Swan attended Arizona State University. In the 1972 College World Series, Swan allowed only one run in 18 innings pitched for a 0.50 ERA – tied for the best ever for 18 or more innings. For his efforts, he was named to the All-Tournament Team but Arizona State lost to the University of Southern California in the championship game.\n', '

Swan was chosen by the Mets in the third round of the 1972 Major League Baseball draft. He spent most of 1972 to 1975 in the minor leagues with only brief (and poor) stints in the majors. One of his better early performances came on May 11, 1974, when he personally out-played the opposition by collecting a career-high three hits, knocking in one run, and scoring another at the plate while allowing no runs on four hits over six innings on the mound. Later that season, he broke his elbow and missed significant playing time. He returned successfully and, in 1975, was named the International League Most Valuable Pitcher.\n', '

Swan broke into the majors for good in 1976. In the Mets\' last good season of the decade, Swan was the fifth starter and posted statistics slightly below the league average with a 3.54 ERA and a 6–9 record. His highlight was his first victory of the season when he pitched a five-hit complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts. He was inconsistent for the season. After four terrible starts, the following three starts resulted in just a single earned run on 13 hits and four walks over 26 innings with 21 strikeouts — a fantastic 0.35 ERA.\n', '

Return to Craig Swan Autograph Profile