3 best former NY Mets players who never made an All-Star team while in Queens

3) Craig Swan

Deciding on a third option was a challenge. Lenny Dykstra? Nah. He wasn’t here long enough and his shared duties with Mookie Wilson explains it. Plus, with several All-Star appearances after, he’s not much fun to write about. Instead, let’s go with Craig Swan who never made any All-Star appearances for any MLB club.

Swan is an easily forgotten pitcher who became a mainstay in the rotation during a bleak period. He was the 1978 ERA leader in the National League and yet he couldn’t muster up a single Cy Young vote. Swan didn’t dazzle but there were instances in his Mets career when an All-Star opportunity could’ve presented itself. The 1978 season, when the team had Pat Zachry as their lone representative, is the best season to look deeper into.

We know Swan finished with the league’s best ERA. Who remembers what his first half looked like? 

Well, we have our answer. At 1-5 with a 2.63 ERA, Swan’s season was one of little run support and plenty of blown saves. He got better in the second-half, going 8-1 with a 2.22 ERA to finish the season and crown himself the league’s ERA leader. As meaningless as we understand wins for pitchers are these days, you can’t have an All-Star who was victorious only once.

The following season could’ve been Swan’s next best chance. At 14-13 with a 3.29 ERA, an overdue honor could have made sense. He was 8-8 with a 3.29 ERA before the All-Star Break. Just as good in the second half as he was in the first, this appears to be a more logical season to earn his All-Star stripes. Instead, John Stearns and Lee Mazilli went.