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SHAKING HANDS WITH YOUR HERO
Only a few weeks ago, January 15, 2005 I met Tom Seaver for the very first time.
He was appearing at HEROES AND LEGENDS, a sports memorabilia store in the Roosevelt Field shopping mall here on Long
Island. My brother Mike and I, along with a mess of Seaver fanatics eagerly awaited seeing the man up close and getting
his autograph.
Seaver, now in his 60's was pleasant, but not exactly gregarious in his contact
with the fans. Mike and I each purchased photos to be autographed. One for us and the other for his bar, "The Cornerstone". After
checking out with his handlers that the "Cornerstone" was not a product, he signed Mike's picture - and then mistakeningly
realized he had only signed the plastic cover! He had to do the whole autograph thing again on the actual photograph.
So we actually got an extra autograph out of the deal!
I was right behind Mike and when I took and shook his right hand, well it was such
an honor. I tried not to babble but eventually I told Tom (weeping almost) how much I loved what he had done for the
Mets, and how much I appreciated him. He was very nice and asked me how to spall "Ed" which everyone thought was
pretty funny. It was nice because we had a few moments with him that showed him to be human and not just going
through the motions like some other athletes or performers. Tom was even patient as we had our picture taken with him
- and endured having to wait a while for the flash to work on my camera!
SEAVER MEMORIES
As I've indicated in other sections of this site, I was too young for 1969 - being
only 8 years old at the time. I missed perhaps his most well known season. But as I grew up in the aftermath of
the Miracle Mets, so was Seaver as a pitcher as he built his legacy. It wasn't until after the second miracle of 1973,
that at twelve years old I became more of a fan of the game.
By the Summer of 1974, I was finallly growing into loving the Mets for myself - not just because
they were my sister's team! My favorite at the time was shortstop Buddy Harrelson. I guess because I was short
and could relate to the weak hitting, gold glover. He was Tom's roommate and I enjoyed reading about the camradere between
Seaver, Harrelson, McGraw, Grote and others.
A friend of our family, Walter Hoss had been in the Marines with Seaver. In fact
he was his drill Sergeant! He was a real character and took to us kids. Oneday my brothers and I were playing
whiffle ball in our backyard and Walter presented us with autographed baseballs! Yogi Berra IMets Manager at the time),
Seaver and Buddy Harrelson had all signed balls for us. I was twice as lucky as my brothers because according to legend,
since Seaver and Buddy were roomies, they both signed my baseball! It is one of my most treasured possesions
and favorite memories of Walter and my brothers.
THE BIG BET
One of my favorite stories occured in the 1975 season. My Dad had always been a Brooklyn
Dodgers fan until they left Brooklyn after the 1957 season. He could never accept the Mets as a major league baseball
team! He became a Yankees fan instead! This still blows my mind considering how many times the Yankees beat the
Dodgers in the World Series! After years of mediocrity, by the mid 70's the Yankees were looking like contenders
again.
The Yankees signed former A's ace Jim Catfish Hunter in January of 1975. Almost immediately
my Dad and I decided to bet on who would win more games that season, Tom Terrific or Catfish. It was a fun season
as my Dad and I grew even closer. I had a thirst for the game that couldn't be quenched. Though not athletic,
I probably read, every baseball book I could find, listened or watched every game, and rooted for those Mets - especially
Seaver with all my heart!
Tom won 22 games and the National League Cy Young Award in 1975. It would be the third
and final time he would win the award. He struck out 200 or more batters for the eighth consecutive season - a record
not even Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens or Randy Johnson have been able to touch.
It was the last weekend of the season when My dad, brothers and I went to Shea Stadium
to watch the Yankees play the Cleveland Indians. Both the Mets and the Yankees were playing out the string, but it was
a cruicial game to us because both Tom Seaver and Catfish Hunter had won 22 games up that point in the season!
The crowd was tense - ok maybe it was just me as I alternated from the visitors scoreboard
to keep an eye on Seaver and the Mets and, the Yankees playing in the the Mets ballyard! Though Catfish served up a
homer or two to slugger Oscar Gamble (who had the biggest afro in baseball!), The Yankees and Hunter managed to win. Seaver
and the Mets lost. 23 games for Catfish, 22 for Seaver -and so I lost the bet to my Dad who didn't rub salt in my wound.
I would pay for it much later having to endure the Yankees dominance in the 90's.
.
As we grew up, My brother Chris became a Reds fan. Probably because I'm a Mets fan!
Ok ok the guy really dug the style of players like Pete Rose and Johnny Bench! After the Yankees won the World Series
in 1977, he adopted them as his team. After Rose had beaten up Harrelson, I could never root for the Reds even a little bit.
Sadly, that would change.
THE MIDNIGHT MASSACRE
June 15, 1977 goes down in Mets history as our darkest day. After a feud
between Seaver and Mets board chairman M. Donald Grant got of hand and dragged through the newpapers, Seaver was traded to
then defending World Champion Cincinnatti Reds.
I remember crying that night. My brother Mike recalls that I was on
the phone trying to call someone - perhaps in an effort to have the deal come undone? There was no sports talk radio
back then! I have another friend who claims to having actually called M. Donald Grant on the phone that evening!
The impossible had happened - Seaver leaving the Mets? The Franchise?
It just was horrible and together with a deal that sent our best hitter Dave Kingman to the Padres, sent the Mets into a tailspin
for years. They wouldn't recover until new ownership took control of the Mets in the early 80's.
With the Reds Seaver pitched his elusive no hitter and had the opportunity
to play with hall of famers Joe Morgan, Johhnny Bench, Ton y Perez and the great Pete Rose who hopefully will one day be enshrined
in Cooperstown. Seaver did help pitch the Reds into the playoffs in 1979, but could never bring them back to the
World Series. In the strike shortened 1981 season, Tom was terrific winning 14 and losing two. He would have won
the Cy Young had it not been for Dodgers phenom, Fernando Valenzuela. In 1983, new Mets management brought Tom
home to Shea for one more season.
THE ROAD TO 300, HALL FOF FAME, AND BEYOND
Tom left the Mets again after the 1983 season due to a roster issue. Apparently
Mets GM felt that no one would want an aging Seaver and left him off the 40 man roster! What a bonehead thing to
do! The Chicago White Sox grabbed Seaver off the waiver wire. While in Chicago, Tom was being caught by Hall of
Famer Carlton Fisk. He won his 300th game at Yankee stadium in 1985! After an aborted comeback witth
the Mets in 1987, Seaver retired from baseball. He was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1992 by the largest percentage
in history. Congratulations Tom!
Seaver is now in broadcasting. After a few years with the Yankees, Tom is
back home with the Mets. Hopefully this time Tom will stay here where he belongs.
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Tom Seaver
Pitcher
1967-77 New York Mets
1977-82 Cincinnati Reds
1983 New York Mets
1984-6 Chicago White
Sox
1986 Boston Red Sox
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Had nine straight seasons with 200-plus strikeouts, a major league record.
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Won three NL Cy Young Awards--1969, 1973, and 1975.
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3,640 career strikeouts--fourth on the all-time list.
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Largely responsible for the Mets transformation from perennial cellar-dweller to World Series contender,
Seaver won 16 games in 1967 and 1968 and then went an amazing 25-7 to lead the Mets to the Series.
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Struck out ten Padres in a row in a game in 1970, a major league record. Seaver struck out 19 total
in that game, tying a record that has since been surpassed by Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood.
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Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. |
A youthful Seaver, 1967
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Nickname was "Tom Terrific."
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Won 311 games in his career.
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His .603 lifetime winning percentage is the best of any 300-game winner of the last half-century.
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Won Game Four of the 1969 World Series 2-1 in ten innings.
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Pitched 61 career shutouts.
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Seaver was National League Rookie of the Year in 1967. |
| YR |
TM |
LG |
GP |
W |
L |
PCT |
IP |
H |
BB |
SO |
ERA |
| 1967 |
NY |
N |
35 |
16 |
13 |
.552 |
251.0 |
224 |
78 |
170 |
2.76 |
| 1968 |
NY |
N |
36 |
16 |
12 |
.571 |
277.2 |
224 |
48 |
205 |
2.20 |
| 1969 |
NY |
N |
36 |
25 |
7 |
.781 |
273.1 |
202 |
82 |
208 |
2.21 |
| 1970 |
NY |
N |
37 |
18 |
12 |
.600 |
290.2 |
230 |
83 |
283 |
2.82 |
| 1971 |
NY |
N |
36 |
20 |
10 |
.667 |
286.1 |
210 |
61 |
289 |
1.76 |
| 1972 |
NY |
N |
35 |
21 |
12 |
.636 |
262.0 |
215 |
77 |
249 |
2.92 |
| 1973 |
NY |
N |
36 |
19 |
10 |
.655 |
290.0 |
219 |
64 |
251 |
2.08 |
| 1974 |
NY |
N |
32 |
11 |
11 |
.500 |
236.0 |
199 |
75 |
201 |
3.20 |
| 1975 |
NY |
N |
36 |
22 |
9 |
.710 |
280.1 |
217 |
88 |
243 |
2.38 |
| 1976 |
NY |
N |
35 |
14 |
11 |
.560 |
271.0 |
211 |
77 |
235 |
2.59 |
| 1977 |
NY |
N |
13 |
7 |
3 |
.700 |
96.0 |
79 |
28 |
72 |
3000 |
| 1977 |
Cin |
N |
20 |
14 |
3 |
.824 |
165.1 |
120 |
38 |
124 |
2.34 |
| 1978 |
Cin |
N |
36 |
16 |
14 |
.533 |
259.2 |
218 |
89 |
226 |
2.88 |
| 1979 |
Cin |
N |
32 |
16 |
6 |
.727 |
215.0 |
187 |
61 |
131 |
3.14 |
| 1980 |
Cin |
N |
26 |
10 |
8 |
.556 |
168.0 |
140 |
59 |
101 |
3.64 |
| 1981 |
Cin |
N |
23 |
14 |
2 |
.875 |
166.1 |
120 |
66 |
87 |
2.54 |
| 1982 |
Cin |
N |
21 |
5 |
13 |
.278 |
111.1 |
136 |
44 |
62 |
5.50 |
| 1983 |
NY |
N |
34 |
9 |
14 |
.391 |
231.0 |
201 |
86 |
135 |
3.55 |
| 1984 |
Chi |
A |
34 |
15 |
11 |
.577 |
236.2 |
216 |
61 |
131 |
3.95 |
| 1985 |
Chi |
A |
35 |
16 |
11 |
.593 |
238.2 |
223 |
69 |
134 |
3.17 |
| 1986 |
Chi |
A |
12 |
2 |
6 |
.250 |
72.0 |
66 |
27 |
31 |
4.38 |
| 1986 |
Bos |
A |
16 |
5 |
7 |
.417 |
104.1 |
114 |
29 |
72 |
3.80 |
| |
20 |
|
656 |
311 |
205 |
.603 |
4782.2 |
3971 |
3640 |
3640 |
2.86 |
Seaver throws out first ball at game 1 of 2000 World Series
TOM SEAVER ARTICLES
"Tom Seaver - A perfect Inspiration" by Robert Begley 4/1/04
"Greatest Mets - George Thomas Seaver" by Matt Sissman 11/16/03 (nysportsday.com)
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