Like most relief pitchers of the past, Tug McGraw didn’t plan to come out of the bullpen. He began his career with the New York Mets the way many pitchers did in the 1960s: pitching as a starter and a reliever when needed.
Unfortunately for McGraw, after some fine numbers in 1965, he declined in 1966 and looked even worse in 1967. Was this the end of his trajectory toward professional sports stardom?
After spending all of 1968 in Triple-A, McGraw returned to the Mets in 1969 in a different kind of role.