Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, ace of Miracle Mets, dies
Tom Seaver, the Hall of Fame pitcher who steered a stunning transformation from lovable losers to Miracle Mets in 1969, has died. He was 75.
The Hall said Wednesday night that Seaver died Monday from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19. Seaver spent his final years in Calistoga.
Seaver’s family announced in March 2019 he had been diagnosed with dementia and had retired from public life.
He continued working at Seaver Vineyards, founded by the three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and his wife, Nancy, in 2002 on 116 acres at Diamond Mountain in Calistoga.
Seaver was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 1991, and it reoccurred in 2012 and led to Bell’s Palsy and memory loss, the Daily News of New York reported in 2013.
“He will always be the heart and soul of the Mets, the standard which all Mets aspire to,” Mike Piazza, a former Mets catcher and Hall of Famer, tweeted when Seaver’s dementia diagnosis was announced.
Nicknamed Tom Terrific and The Franchise, Seaver was a five-time 20-game winner and the 1967 NL Rookie of the Year. For his career, from 1967-86, he had a 311205 record with a 2.86 ERA, 3,640 strikeouts and 61 shutouts. He became a constant on magazine covers and a media presence, calling postseason games on NBC and ABC even while still an active player.
“He was simply the greatest Mets player of all-time and among the best to ever play the game,” Mets owner Fred Wilpon and son Jeff, the team’s chief operating officer, said in a statement.
Seaver was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992.
“Tom was a gentleman who represented the best of our national pastime,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “He was synonymous with the New York Mets and their unforgettable 1969 season.”
Seaver pitched for the Mets from 1967 until 1977, when he was traded to Cincinnati. He threw 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 he 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 did it in style with a sixhitter in a 4-1 victory. He finished his career with the 1986 Boston Red Sox team that lost to the Mets in the World Series.
“Tom Seaver was one of the best and most inspirational pitchers to play the game,” Reds chief executive officer Bob Castellini said in a statement. “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.”
Seaver was a 12-time AllStar who led the major leagues with a 25-7 record in 1969 and a 1.76 ERA in 1971.
Seaver limited his public appearances in recent years.
He did not attend the Baseball Writers’ Association of America dinner in 2019, where members of the 1969 Mets were honored on the 50th anniversary of what still ranks among baseball’s most unexpected championships.
George Thomas Seaver was born in Fresno on Nov. 17, 1944.
He was a star at USC and was drafted by Atlanta in 1966. He signed with the Braves for $51,500 only for commissioner William Eckert to void the deal. The Trojans already had played exhibition games that year, and baseball rules at the time prohibited a club from signing a college player whose season had started. Any team willing to match the Braves’ signing bonus could enter a lottery, and Eckert picked the Mets out of a hat that also included Cleveland and Philadelphia.
Among baseball’s worst teams from their expansion season in 1962, the Mets lost more than 100 games in five of their first six seasons and had never won more than 73 in any of their first seven years. With cherished Brooklyn Dodgers star Gil Hodges as their manager, a young corps of pitchers led by Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry and a still-wild Nolan Ryan, the Mets overtook the Chicago Cubs to win the NL East with a 100-62 record in 1969.
They swept Hank Aaron and the Atlanta Braves in the first NL Championship Series to reach the World Series against highly favored Baltimore, which had gone 10953. Seaver lost the opener 4-1, then pitched a 10-inning sixhitter to win Game 4, and the Mets won the title the following afternoon.