Tom Seaver

It had been reported recently that Hall of Famer Tom Seaver would no longer be doing public appearances due to dementia, but I had not heard that Seaver's condition had deteriorated to life-threatening.

So when Jason Christensen wrote to me tonight about the passing of Seaver at the age of 75, it was somewhat of a surprise.

Tom Seaver entered professional baseball with controversy with his signing with Atlanta, who had drafted him, being nullified after it was discovered that Seaver had signed after USC's season had begun and therefore was invalid.
MLB decided that anyone that would match the contract that Seaver signed with the Braves would be placed into a drawing to decide Seaver's rights.
The Phillies, Mets, and of all teams the perpetually cash-challenged Indians matched the offer and the Mets won the drawing with Seaver becoming the face of the franchise during the Miracle Mets era.
Even today, when you think Mets- you think of Tom Seaver.

Tom Seaver's career accolades speak for themselves with over 300 wins, three Cy Young Awards, and Seaver won over 20 games five times- four with the Mets and another in 1977 when he split the season between the Mets and Reds and even more, but what Seaver meant to the Mets was more than statistics.
In a town that will always see the Mets as the little brother to the Yankees, the years that Seaver spent with the Mets were not only the best years (other than the Davey Johnson led-years in the 80s) for the Mets, they were also the worst for the Yankees.
That time period is the only period of around a decade that the Mets were not only better than the Yankees, they were also more glamorous with much of that due to Tom Seaver.

Seaver was well-spoken, had the air of arrogance that the great ones in any profession have, and was popular with the fans, if not the Mets' front office.
The Mets trade of Seaver to Cincinnati in 1977 for Reds starter Pat Zachry, backup infielder Doug Flynn, and minor league outfielders Steve Henderson and Dan Norman, was a public relations nightmare and the end of the Miracle Mets era.
It would take years for the Mets to become competitive on the field after the Seaver trade and only when the Mets began to turn things around with the young group (and veterans like Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez acquired in trades) of players such Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden in the mid-80s did the fan interest finally begin to return to the Mets tracing back to the loss of goodwill from trading Seaver.

However, while most see Seaver as a Met, I was eight, almost nine when Seaver was traded to the Reds and I'll think of him equally as a Red as well.
When I put Seaver into my baseball game, I have pictures of him as a Met, Red, and White Sox for use with each team and it's a rare player that I go to that extra hassle for!
I remember Seaver in the double-knit/sans belt uniform of the Reds on the Topps cards, especially the 1978 version because it was the first Seaver card in the Cincinnati colors.
I know for most baseball fans, that's pretty jarring to see Seaver outside of the orange and blue of the Mets, but for me,
Seaver is just as remembered as a Red as a Met.
Seaver missed the Big Red Machine by a year (The Reds trade of Tony Perez likely cost them at least one more title and maybe more), although he did help the Reds to the National League West title in 1979.
Seaver won 75 games in six seasons with the Reds and would throw his only no-hitter as a Red after several near-misses through the years when he no-hit the Cardinals in June 1978.
Had Seaver not struggled in his final season with the Reds to a 5-13 record in 1982 in the only season of his career that his ERA was above five (and at that point, the first season to be above four), Seaver's record would have been even glossier.
Seaver was returned to the Mets in 1983 and for a Mets team that was starting to make their move up the standings, but still wasn't ready yet, Seaver finished 9-14 but knocked two runs off his ERA from the previous season.

The Mets figured to have their franchise's most popular player for the dwindling years of his career with Seaver holding a big salary and at the age of 39 that they could place Seaver in the player pool for the now-defunct free agent compensation draft.
The draft was held for teams that lost players of a certain level to another team via free agency to select a player from a pool with the ability to select from all teams rather than only the team that took your player.
The Chicago White Sox lost pitcher Dennis Lamp to Toronto and surprisingly tabbed Seaver for his first trip through the American League.
To the Mets chagrin, Seaver won 15 and 16 games in his two full seasons at Comiskey Park with the latter coming with an ERA of 3.17 for an astounding season at the age of 40.
It would be in New York where Seaver would grab victory 300, but it would be as a member of the White Sox when Seaver defeated the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
One final blow to the Mets fans, but they should have been able to watch locally.
Seaver split 1986 with the White Sox and Red Sox, where he was part of the AL champions but did not pitch in the postseason due to an August knee injury that caused him to miss the remainder of the season.
In 1987, Seaver attempted a midseason comeback with the Mets but didn't pitch in a game

Above all of those notes above, that I'll remember about most Tom Seaver were those perfect mechanics.
Watching videos of Seaver to this day just blows me away with his "Drop and Drive" windup and follow-through and as a kid, I was always amazed to see the beautiful pictures from Sports Illustrated, Sport Magazine, and Inside Sports with Seaver driving through his delivery so perfectly.
I remember when Mark Prior was coming up through the Cubs system and many compared his delivery to that of Seaver and I saw a mild similarity, but I didn't see that unflawed motion that Seaver's had, and sure enough, Prior broke down.
Tom Seaver never broke down.


Farewell "Tom Terrific"- you'll be missed.