McGraw played in 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1965 to 1984, for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, earning a total of over $2 million.

[1] He is often remembered for coining the phrase "Ya Gotta Believe", which became the rallying cry for the 1973 New York Mets and has since become a popular slogan for the team and fans.

He lasted just two-thirds of an inning and gave up three earned runs on his way to a 9–0 loss (the Cubs blew the Mets out in the first game as well, 7–2).

[6] McGraw remained in the Mets' starting rotation for the remainder of the season, however, failed to log another win, going 2–6 as a starter, and 0–1 in relief.

[10] In June 1969, manager Gil Hodges suggested that Tug should become a relief pitcher, a decision he agreed with and that changed his career.

The Cubs had been in first place in the NL East for 156 days of the season, and they seemed likely to win the division when they came to New York City to open a crucial two-game series with the Mets on September 8.

[16][17][18] For the season, McGraw went 8–6 with a 1.70 ERA, giving up just 71 hits in 106 innings pitched, and setting a Mets record with 27 saves that lasted until 1984.

They pulled into first place on September 21 with a 10–2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates,[21] and clinched the division crown on the final day of the season with a win over the Cubs.

[23][24][25][26][27] McGraw was traded along with Don Hahn and Dave Schneck from the Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies for Del Unser, John Stearns, and Mac Scarce at the Winter Meetings on December 3, 1974.

McGraw had developed shoulder trouble during a season in which he went 6–11 with a 4.15 ERA,[28] and at the time of the trade, it appeared as if the Mets may have been unloading damaged goods.

With the Phillies, he continued his role as a reliable relief pitcher, earning his second career All-Star nod in his first season in Philadelphia, though he did not appear in the game.

They were, however, unable to reach the World Series as they were swept by Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" in the 1976 NLCS, and fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers the following two seasons.

Phillies starter Steve Carlton won the National League Cy Young Award, and slugging third baseman Mike Schmidt was the unanimous NL MVP.

Rafael Landestoy entered the game as a pinch runner for Morgan, and McGraw intentionally walked the next two batters to create a force at any base.

The strategy didn't work, as the following batter, Denny Walling, hit a sacrifice fly to Greg Luzinski in left field scoring Landestoy.

After giving up a walk and two singles to load the bases in the ninth inning, he struck out Willie Wilson, clinching the Phillies' first World Series championship.

[41] The next day, at a victory rally at John F. Kennedy Stadium, McGraw summed it all up for the fans after 97 years of futility for the Phillies franchise:[42] All through baseball history, Philadelphia has had to take a back seat to New York City.

The Phillies won the first half season crown, however, lost the 1981 National League Division Series to the Montreal Expos.

On March 17, 1981, McGraw wore a dyed green uniform on St. Patrick's Day to a spring training game, though an umpire refused to let him play.

[44] In 1982, McGraw shifted into more of a set-up man role, with both Ron Reed and Ed Farmer earning more saves than he on the season.

Prior to the start of the 1983 season, the Phillies acquired Al Holland from the San Francisco Giants to assume the closer role.

At the time of his death, McGraw was ranked: In the 1980s and 1990s, he was a sports anchor and reporter for Action News on WPVI, the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia.

Scroogie was a relief pitcher for the "Pets", whose teammates included "Tyrone" (a Reggie Jackson–like bopper with a tremendous ego), ace pitcher "Royce Rawls" (loosely based upon former Mets teammate, Tom Seaver), "Chico", a Hispanic shortstop with characteristics similar to Mario Mendoza, and "Homer", an intellectually challenged slugger who could send a ball into orbit.

McGraw also recorded a version of the baseball poem "Casey at the Bat", accompanied by Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.

In his book Ya Gotta Believe,[citation needed] McGraw wrote that he and D'Agostino only had sex once and that she immediately broke off contact with him and left town afterward.

When she became pregnant, her parents forced D'Agostino to drop out of high school and move to Delhi, Louisiana to live with relatives, where she gave birth to Tim.

[52] After surgery was performed to remove it, initial reports suggested the procedure had been successful, his chances for recovery were "excellent"[53] and he would live "a long time".

[6] In what would be his last public appearance, McGraw attended the closing ceremonies of Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia on September 28, 2003, where he recreated the final out of the Phillies' World Series triumph.

[55] In 2023, after six Philadelphia Phillies players died prematurely of glioblastoma, a theory linked the brain cancer to toxic PFAS chemicals in the AstroTurf at Veterans Stadium; however, it cannot be proven definitively.

[56] The foundation sponsored a photography class at Camp Pendleton to help 15 marines as part of the recovery process from battlefield wounds.