MLB notes: Mets great Seaver diagnosed with dementia
NEW YORK— Hall-of-famer Tom Seaver, the star of the Miracle Mets’ 1969 World Series championship team, has been diagnosed with dementia at age 74.
His family made the announcement Thursday through the hall and said Seaver has retired from public life. He will continue to work at Seaver Vineyards, founded by the retired player and wife, Nancy, in 2002 on 116 acres at Diamond Mountain in the Calistoga region of California.
Seaver was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 1991, and it reoccurred in 2012 and led to Bell’s Palsy and memory loss, the New York Daily News reported in 2013.
A three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and the 1967 NL rookie of the year, Seaver was 311-205 with a 2.86 ERA, 3,640 strikeouts and 61 shutouts from 1967-86. A five-time 20-game winner nicknamed Tom Terrific, Seaver was elected to the hall in 1992 when he appeared on 420 of 425 ballots for a then-record 98.94 per cent. His mark was surpassed in 2016 by Ken Griffey Jr. and this year by Mariano Rivera, the first unanimous selection.
Seaver pitched for the Mets from 1967 until 1977, when he was traded to Cincinnati after a public spat with Mets chairman M. Donald Grant over Seaver’s desire for a new contract.
“My biggest disappointment? Leaving the Mets the first time and the difficulties I had with the same people that led up to it,” Seaver said before his hall induction in 1992. “But even that I look back at in a positive way now. It gave me the opportunity to work in different areas of the country.”
He pitched his only no-hitter for the Reds in June 1978 against St. Louis and was traded back to New York after the 1982 season. But Mets general manager Frank Cashen blundered by leaving Seaver off his list of 26 protected players, and in January 1984 Seaver was claimed by the Chicago White Sox as free agent compensation for losing pitcher Dennis Lamp to Toronto.
While pitching for the White Sox, Seaver got his 300th win at Yankee Stadium, and he did it in style with a six-hitter in a 4-1 victory.
“From a team standpoint, winning the ’69 world championship is something I’ll remember most,” Seaver said in 1992. “From an individual standpoint, my 300th win brought me the most joy.” HARPER HITTING: Bryce Harper homered for the second straight day in a simulated game against Philadelphia Phillies minor leaguers.
Harper had an opposite-field homer to left in the first of 12 plate appearances Thursday at the team’s minor league complex. Harper also lined a double down the right-field line, singled up the middle, drove a deep fly to centre and had a broken-bat flare to left centre.
RAIN DAY: Josh Donaldson plans to play in his first spring training game for the Atlanta Braves on Friday night against Philadelphia.
After being slowed by injuries for two seasons, the 33-year-old ex-Blue Jay spent the first two weeks of the exhibition season strengthening his legs, feet and toes. He also tried to “to clean up some running technique issues that I’ve had in the past.”
A MET, FINALLY: Carlos Gomez is back with the Mets, 3 1⁄2 years after a trade fell through that would have sent him from Milwaukee to New York.
The outfielder agreed to a minor-league contract and will report to big league spring training, the Mets said Thursday.
Gomez, 33, hit .208 with nine homers and 32 RBIs in 118 games last year for Tampa Bay.