Fresno native, Mets great Tom Seaver dies
Tom Seaver, the greatest baseball player ever to come out of Fresno, died.
Seaver, 75, passed peacefully in his sleep of complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 on Monday from his home in Calistoga, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Seaver, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, captured three Cy Young Awards and 311 wins while registering 3,640 strikeouts with a 2.86 ERA during a career that spanned from 1967-1986.
Twelve of his seasons were spent with the New York Mets, including the 1969 Miracle Mets championship team when he went 25-7 during the regular season.
Seaver, who was born in Fresno, played baseball at Fresno High and Fresno City College before he was drafted in the first round by the Atlanta Braves out of USC in 1966. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for two years between his time at Fresno High and Fresno City.
Seaver was then obtained by the Mets in a special draft lottery in 1966 (deal with Atlanta nixed by MLB commissioner) and earned the 1967 National League Rookie of the Year Award.
“Tom Terrific,” after making 12 All Star appearances, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992 -- named on 98.8 percent of ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, which was the highest voting percentage ever received at the time.
In June 2019, 126th Street in front of the Mets’ Citi Field was renamed Seaver Way. At the same time, the Mets changed the ballpark’s address to 41 Seaver Way and chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon announced future plans for a Seaver Statue to be built in an area near the Home Run Apple outside of Citi Field.
“Tom was a once-in-a-lifetime player and will always be remembered as one of the greatest players in Mets history. Tom truly lived up to his nicknames of ‘Tom Terrific’ and ‘The Franchise,’” Wilpon said.
Seaver retired from public life in March 2019 after his family revealed he had been diagnosed with dementia.
The Mets honor echoed what the city of Fresno and his alma mater did in October 2013 when they collaborated to dedicate Echo Avenue outside Fresno High School as Tom Seaver Lane. The dedication ceremony was Seaver’s last appearance in Fresno.