Legendary player, winemaker, and all-around nice guy. My mom was a huge fan. And since my mom passed away two weeks ago, this is one of the first little jolts I’m going to keep getting: I can’t call her to see how she’s taking it.
I was fortunate enough to see his 300th victory against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium when he was with the White Sox in 1985. Although I’m a Yankees fan, I didn’t mind the loss so much since it came from a NY sports icon.
(It was also Phil Rizzuto day, when they retired #10 in his honor. In recognition of his frequent exclamation, they brought out a Holy Cow, which proceeded to knock Phil over. Truly a day of memories!)
Probably unlike most people, my personal image of Tom Seaver is in a Cincinnati Reds uniform.
Same here, mostly because I didn’t really start following baseball closely until around 1977, when the Mets traded him to the Reds. I distinctly remember coverage of his no-hitter for the Reds in '78, and how a lot of people were happy that he had finally gotten one.
I remember that game well, though I watched it on TV*. Seaver was a class act and great player. Also a Yankee fan, I never disliked Seaver. But to me, he was a Met first and foremost. The best of the Mets.
- It must have been a National Game or I caught it as a White Sox broadcast as I was in the Chicago area for that game.
I remember the Miracle Mets’ run to the World Series in 1969. Farewell, “Tom Terrific.”
The losing pitcher in the Montreal Expos’ first game ever - April 8, 1969.
Today I learned that Tom Seaver didn’t die years ago. More shockingly, neither did Vin Scully, who just joined Twitter, ferchissakes.
Tom Seaver was the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award without winning at least 20 games. A pitcher had won an MVP Award without winning 20 games (Jim Konstanty) but that was before there was a CYA. Seaver went 19-10 in 1973 and dragged the Mets to the World Series and was obviously the best pitcher in the major leagues, but it was still an incredibly close vote.
By the time I started following baseball, which was about 1981, Seaver was still pitching, and would have more solid years, but he was already a legend. At the time, if you asked 100 baseball fans who the greater pitcher was, Nolan Ryan or Tom Seaver, 100 would have said Seaver. Today, I imagine most would say Ryan, but they are wrong. It’s still Seaver.