(Story by Marco Stoovelaar)
IN MEMORIAM
...Tom Seaver...
(1944 - 2020) |
 Major League pitching-great and Hall of Famer Tom Seaver passed away
Nederlands
 CALISTOGA, California (USA) -
Pitching-great Tom Seaver, who played in the Major League for twenty seasons and was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1992, passed away on Monday (August 31) at the age of 75.
Seaver was a club-icon of the New York Mets with whom he won the World Series in 1969.
In 1991, Tom Seaver was diagnosed with Lyme disease.
It was reported that this returned in 2012 and led to Bell's Palsy and memory loss.
In March 2019, his family announced that he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.
From that moment on, he didn't make any public appearances anymore.
It was reported that Seaver passed away as a result of complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19.
George Thomas Seaver was born on November 17, 1944 in Fresno California.
Tom Seaver played 20 seasons in the Major League for New York Mets (1967-1977; 1983), Cincinnati Reds (1977-1982), Chicago White Sox (1984-1986) and Boston Red Sox (1986).
Seaver was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
While pitching for the University of Southern California (USC), he was selected in June 1965 in the Amateur Draft by the Dodgers, but he didn't sign.
In January 1966, he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves, but that selection was voided because USC already had played two exhibition games.
While Seaver didn't play in those games, the contract was voided according to the NCAA-rules from that year, as he was not allowed to got back to USC because he had signed a professional contract.
With that, Seaver became an amateur Free Agent and on April 3, 1966, the New York Mets signed him.
It was the beginning of a wonderful career, as it was with the Mets that Seaver celebrated his most successes.
Furthermore, Seaver became one of the best pitchers in the history.
And he will always be remembered for his contributions in the Championship-season of the New York Mets in 1969, which was named 'The Miracle Season'.
Tom Seaver made his Major League-debut in 1967 and immediately left a great impression.
The 22-year old righthander pitched in 35 games (34 starts), completed 18 of them and was 16-13 with a 2.76 ERA.
In 251 innings, Seaver struckout 170 batters and walked 78.
The team itself was only 61-101.
He was chosen for his first All Star Game and after the season, he won the Rookie of the Year Award in the National League.
Seaver was also a member of the National League All Star Team in nine of the next ten seasons.
And he won three Cy Young Awards.
In following years, the Mets improved, led by pitchers Seaver and Jerry Koosman.
The greatest turnaround came in 1969 when the Mets had its 'Miracle Season' after having finished in ninth place the year before.
On July 9 during this season, playing at home in Shea Stadium, Tom Seaver was throwing a Perfect Game with one out in the ninth inning against Chicago Cubs.
But then rookie Jimmy Qualls hit a single.
The team, managed by Gil Hodges, moved into first place and captured the title in the National League East Division with 100 wins and 62 losses.
In the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, Seaver was the losing pitcher in Game 1, but then threw all ten innings in a 2-1 win in Game 4.
The next day, the 'Miracle Mets' won the Championship-title.
Tom Seaver won his first Cy Young Award in 1969 when he led the National League with 25 wins.
In that season, he lost only seven games and struckout 208 batters in 273 1/3 inning, while finishing with a 2.21 ERA.
He finished in second place in the voting for Most Valuable Player, which went to Willie McCovey (San Francisco Giants).
Amongst Seaver's teammates in the 1969 Championship-season of the Mets were Tommie Agee, Ken Boswell, Duffy Dyer, Wayne Garrett, Jerry Grote, Bud Harrelson, Cleon Jones, Ed Kranepool, Amos Otis, Art Shamsky and Ron Swoboda.
While Seaver (25 wins), Jerry Koosman (17 wins) and Gary Gentry (13) led the pitching-staff, other pitchers then included Tug McGraw, Nolan Ryan (who made his debut with the Mets in 1966) and Ron Taylor.
In the World Series, New York Mets faced the strong team of the Baltimore Orioles, which had won 109 games.
Playing for the team were renowned players as Mark Belanger, Paul Blair, Mike Cuellar, Elrod Hendricks, Davey Johnson (who later became the Manager of the Netherlands National Baseball Team), Dave May, Jim Palmer, Boog Powell, Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson.
Seaver led the League in StrikeOuts in 1970 (283) and 1971 (289).
In both seasons, he also had the lowest (thus best) ERA, respectively 2.82 and 1.76.
With that, he finished in second place in the Cy Young-voting in 1971.
Seaver then won his second Cy Young Award in 1973 when he again led the league in Best ERA (2.08) and StrikeOuts (251).
He also led with 18 Complete Games and closed the season with a 19-10 record.
In 1975, Seaver won the Cy Young Award for the third time after another great season.
This time, he led with 22 victories (and lost only nine) and 243 StrikeOuts.
His successful stay with the New York Mets earned him the nickname 'Tom Terrific'.
How times has changed in recent years salary-wise can be underscored with the salary Seaver received during his productive seasons in New York.
While the salary-totals are not confirmed, Seaver's highest salary in his Mets-years was 225,000 dollar in both 1976 and 1977.
In June 1977, just before the trade deadline, Tom Seaver was traded by the Mets to the Cincinnati Reds for four players.
The trade was labeled the 'Midnight Massacre', as the Mets finished in last place in five of the next seven seasons after Seaver was traded.
In his six seasons with Cincinnati, Seaver won ten or more games in five of them, winning 16 in 1978 and 1979.
He led the League with 14 wins in 1981, which earned another second place in the Cy Young-voting.
While with Cincinnati, he pitched in two more All Star Games, which gave him twelve selections overall.
While pitching for Cincinnati, Seaver threw a No-Hitter against St. Louis Cardinals on June 16, 1978 at home in Riverfront Stadium.
In December 1982, Seaver was involved in his second trade.
This time, he was traded by Cincinnati back to the New York Mets for three players.
Seaver pitched for New York in 1983 and then was 9-14.
In January 1984, Seaver was acquired by the Chicago White Sox in what was a Free Agent compensation pick.
...Tom Seaver's...
...Hall of Fame Plaque... |
Tom Seaver, who played his entire career with uniform number 41, was on the mound for the White Sox for three seasons.
After finishing with a 15-11 record in his first season (1984), he earned (unconfirmed) more than one million dollar for the first time in his career for both 1985 and 1986.
He was 16-11, a 3.17 ERA and 134 StrikeOuts in 1985, but was less successful the next season.
In 1986, Seaver was 2-6 with a 4.38 and then was traded in June of that year to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Steve Lyons.
In the remainder of the season, the righthander was 5-7 for the 'BoSox' with a 3.80 ERA and 72 StrikeOuts.
While he was with the team, due to a knee-injury, Seaver was unable to play for Boston in the World Series against...New York Mets.
It was the wellknown World Series in which Boston was almost ending its long Championship-drought.
But that didn't happen when Boston's first baseman Bill Buckner led a ball go through his legs.
New York won the game and then the Series the next day.
After the 1986 season, in November, Seaver, at age 41, became a Free Agent and retired.
Overall in his 20-year Major League-career, Tom Seaver pitched in 656 games (647 starts, 231 complete) and has a 311-205 record with a 2.86 ERA.
In 4.783 innings pitched, he struckout 3.640 batters.
At the time he retired, his career-total of StrikeOuts was the third most on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan (who pitched until 1993) and Steve Carlton (who retired two years later).
As a batter, Seaver recorded 202 basehits, including twelve homeruns had a .154 batting average.
Currently, Seaver's 3.640 StrikeOuts rank sixth on the all-time list, following Nolan Ryan (5.714), Randy Johnson (4.875), Roger Clemens (4.672), Steve Carlton (4.136) and Bert Blyleven (3.701).
With 61 ShutOuts, Seaver shares seventh place on the all-time list with Nolan Ryan.
That list is headed by pitching-legend Walter Johnson, who threw 110 Complete Games.
Seaver is the recordholder with sixteen Opening Day-starts.
He also has the record for striking out the most consecutive batters (10) in a game, which he accomplished in 1970.
In 1992, Tom Seaver was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame with 98.8 percent of the votes.
At that time, it was the highest percentage ever.
That was later broken by Ken Griffey, Jr. in 2016 (99.3 percent).
In 2019, Mariano Rivera became the first player to be elected unanimously.
Seaver is also a member of the New York Mets Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
New York retired his uniform number 41 in 1988.
On September 28, 2008, Seaver and catcher Mike Piazza threw and caught the ceremonial first pitch before what was the last game in Shea Stadium, the home of the Mets.
On April 13, 2009, the two did the same before the first game played by the Mets in Citi Field, its new home stadium.
Seaver also threw the ceremonial first pitch before the 2013 All Star Game, which was played at Citi Field.
Last year, the Mets renamed the street outside Citi Field from 126th Street to Seaver Way, while the address of the stadium was changed to 41 Seaver Way, referring to his uniform number.
After he had retired as a player, Tom Seaver worked as a broadcaster for the New York Yankees (1989-1993) and New York Mets (1999-2005) for whom he was the television color commentator and analyst, as well as for NBC.
Thereafter, he turned his attention to vineyards.
After returning to California, he developed Seaver Family Vineyards, which produces cabernet sauvignon.
Tom Seaver was much-liked both on and of the field and is mostly characterized as a charming gentleman.
He was well respected by his teammates for his leadership in the locker room and the dug-out.
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...In Memoriam Tribute Tom Seaver by Major League Baseball... |
Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon, owners of the New York Mets, issued the following statement:
,,We are devastated to learn of the passing of Mets Legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Tom Seaver.
Tom was nicknamed 'The Franchise' and 'Tom Terrific' because of how valuable he truly was to our organization and our loyal fans, as his #41 was the first player number retired by the organization in 1988.
He was simply the greatest Mets player of all-time and among the best to ever play the game which culminated with his near unanimous induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.
Beyond the multitude of awards, records, accolades, World Series Championship, All-Star appearances, and just overall brilliance, we will always remember Tom for his passion and devotion to his family, the game of baseball, and his vineyard.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Nancy, daughters Sarah and Anne and four grandsons, Thomas, William, Henry and Tobin''.
Bob Castellini, the Chief Executive Officer of the Cincinnati Reds, stated:
,,Tom Seaver was one of the best and most inspirational pitchers to play the game.
We are grateful that Tom’s Hall of Fame career included time with the Reds.
We are proud to count his name among the greats in the Reds Hall of Fame.
He will be missed''.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said:
,,I am deeply saddened by the death of Tom Seaver, one of the greatest pitchers of all-time.
Tom was a gentleman who represented the best of our National Pastime.
He was synonymous with the New York Mets and their unforgettable 1969 season.
After their improbable World Series Championship, Tom became a household name to baseball fans - a responsibility he carried out with distinction throughout his life.
On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my condolences to Tom’s family, his admirers throughout our game, Mets fans, and the many people he touched''.
Chicago White Sox-Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf issued this statement:
,,Tom Seaver joined the White Sox in 1984 and his class and character immediately impressed all who encountered him.
Tom was respected by everyone in the game and that respect was so well deserved.
He was the consummate professional in everything he did, and at the same time, he had a fantastic sense of humor that reverberated around the clubhouse.
Tom was an artist on the mound, who loved and respected the game of baseball with an unmatched passion.
Tom won his 300th game on August 4, 1985, appropriately in New York, and we were all so happy for him.
While his time in Chicago was relatively brief given his long Hall of Fame career, the friendships and impressions he left have lasted a lifetime.
Our thoughts go out to Nancy, their daughters and all of their many friends and family''.
Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said:
,,Tom Seaver’s life exemplified greatness in the game, as well as integrity, character, and sportsmanship - the ideals of a Hall of Fame career.
As a longtime member of the Hall of Fame Board of Directors, Tom brought dignity and wisdom to this institution that will be deeply missed.
His love for baseball history, and for the Hall of Fame, was reinforced in 2014, when he pledged the donation of his personal baseball collection to the Museum.
His wonderful legacy will be preserved forever in Cooperstown''.
The webmaster of Grand Slam * Stats & News offers his condolences to the family of Tom Seaver and wishes them a lot of strength with this big loss.
(September 3)
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