RIP Tom Seaver, 1944-2020

[ashie62]

In 1983 on return to Met,s Seaver knew he was not what he was but said he will do his best "not for lack of effort." Professionalism.

[Edgy MD]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Good to know the Mets were beefing up their single security guard. That guy must have been enormous.

That's a good observation. My concern is: Was that an acceptable way to spell "goodby" in 1977?

[MFS62]

I remember when writer Dick Young was planting the seeds for the Seaver deal, saying how it would be good for the Mets and he wasn't a good guy.

We found out later that he got that burr under his saddle because the Mets denied a job to (or fired? )one of Young's relatives.

Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

Hoping eff 'n jeff don't cheap it up on the inevitable Seaver memorial patch, but they'll probably get that guy who never went to art school to do it, like all the others, to save money, and we'll end up with some stupid patch like the script "Rusty" patch or something totally uninspired like the "Kid" in home plate patch. Watch this space.

When the Mets get around to the Seaver memorial uniform patch, the team should wear it for about a full calendar year, through the one-year anniversary of Seaver's death, instead of for just the few weeks remaining in this season.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Hoping eff 'n jeff don't cheap it up on the inevitable Seaver memorial patch, but they'll probably get that guy who never went to art school to do it, like all the others, to save money, and we'll end up with some stupid patch like the script "Rusty" patch or something totally uninspired like the "Kid" in home plate patch. Watch this space. When the Mets get around to the Seaver memorial uniform patch, the team should wear it for about a full calendar year, through the one-year anniversary of Seaver's death, instead of for just the few weeks remaining in this season.

And then, on the one-year anniversary of Seaver's death, where, hopefully by then, we'll be back to some sense of normalcy, hold a memorial service at Citi Field in front of, hopefully again, a stadium packed with fans.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: The Seaver card. Look at his eyes and forehead

Yeah, I see. Couldn't fix it. That's what the source image is. It is what it is. Too bad. I liked that shot otherwise.



[FIMG=200]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50301355943_33a2b4db3d_h.jpg[/FIMG]



So what I'll do is retire that card. Who knows? Maybe it'll shoot up in value as a short print.





Here's the replacement.



[FIMG=333]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50305301916_a5ef438895_h.jpg[/FIMG]

[G-Fafif]

A little something specific to loving Tom Seaver http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2020/09/04/my-seminal-seaver-summer-of-71/when you're eight years old.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Nice Tom Seaver patch. Not. Grimm called it. 41 in a black circle.

[batmagadanleadoff]

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[batmagadanleadoff]

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[batmagadanleadoff]

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[batmagadanleadoff]

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[Edgy MD]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I wish I had known about this one for last year's Magazine Cover Derby

I think we will need another contest for the ones that arrived to late to get in the field, as well as latter-day covers.

[batmagadanleadoff]

1973 Bruce Stark full-page caricature, Sunday Daily News Comics Section centerfold pullout



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[G-Fafif]

Every Bruce Stark illustration in the series needs to be revived as a t-shirt of a card or something for the 50th anniversary of 1973.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Read all about when Ron Hodges and Tom Seaver went out to eat a pigeon.



Franklin County grad and ex-Mets catcher Ron Hodges mourns Tom Seaver



https://roanoke.com/sports/professional/franklin-county-grad-and-ex-mets-catcher-ron-hodges-mourns-tom-seaver/article_b15f46bb-5fd6-5609-abdd-6dcb00173204.htmlhttps://roanoke.com/sports/professional/franklin-county-grad-and-ex-mets-catcher-ron-hodges-mourns-tom-seaver/article_b15f46bb-5fd6-5609-abdd-6dcb00173204.html

[Edgy MD]

[fimg=600]https://metsrostercentral.files.wordpress.com/2020/09/seaver.jpg[/fimg]

[G-Fafif]

Read all about when Ron Hodges and Tom Seaver went out to eat a pigeon. Franklin County grad and ex-Mets catcher Ron Hodges mourns Tom Seaver https://roanoke.com/sports/professional/franklin-county-grad-and-ex-mets-catcher-ron-hodges-mourns-tom-seaver/article_b15f46bb-5fd6-5609-abdd-6dcb00173204.htmlhttps://roanoke.com/sports/professional/franklin-county-grad-and-ex-mets-catcher-ron-hodges-mourns-tom-seaver/article_b15f46bb-5fd6-5609-abdd-6dcb00173204.html

That's a great get. Thanks for posting.

[Edgy MD]

Apparently, Stearns never shook Jerry Grote's hand.



https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/09/04/dr-tom-house-tom-seaver-usc-trojans-baseball/Tom House talks Seaver, USC, and comparing his doo-doo to Seaver's pow-pow.

[G-Fafif]

Doc on Tom:



https://thechangeup.substack.com/p/dwight-gooden-remembers-tom-seaverhttps://thechangeup.substack.com/p/dwight-gooden-remembers-tom-seaver

Gary Phillips: I know this is a big loss for the Mets family. What did Tom Seaver mean to you and how did your relationship with him evolve over the years? Dwight Gooden: Tom was like a mentor. Him and Nolan Ryan were my two childhood idols... I watched a lot of their games with my dad and I remember being in the backyard pretending to be either Nolan Ryan or Tom Seaver playing against my nephew, Gary Sheffield. We grew up in the same house. We used to pitch against each other, and we would argue who's going to be Tom Seaver that particular day, who was going to be Nolan Ryan. When I got to meet Tom, we had great conversations. We loved talking about pitching, sequences, how we set hitters up... What are you doing when there's no season or it's not spring training to make yourself better? We talked a lot about family, health, things that matter... He was just a great guy all around. Everyone knew he was a great baseball pitcher, but to me, he was an even better person. He was always in a good mood, always ready to talk baseball, always upbeat. GP: You said in your statement to the Mets that Seaver was one of the first people to call you after you won your Cy Young award in 1985. What do you remember about that phone call? DG: He just congratulated me and said, "Welcome to the club." He said, "Make sure when the league comes after you... just be prepared. Don't try to top the season you had. Just try to duplicate the season you had and you'll be fine." He was just always, always upbeat and a genuine guy. GP: Seaver played his last game for the Mets the year before your rookie season, so you guys never got to be teammates at the big league level. Did your paths ever cross when you were a Mets minor leaguer? DG: I came to New York a little bit in 1983 for an exhibition game where we played the Padres' A-ball club and, before one of the games, we talked. We always talked about what it would have been like to play together. For me, that would have been an absolute dream come true. As a kid, he was my idol. Just the knowledge he had. He always kidded, "With the knowledge I have and the talent you have, we put that together, man who knows where it can get you!" But we always had a lot of good talks. He tried to make a comeback [in 1987]... It didn't go too well and he ended up retiring. I remember in 1986 he was on the Red Sox during the World Series, but it didn't seem right. It just felt like he was supposed to be in our dugout. GP: That first time meeting him in '83, at that point he's already a World Series champion, he's “The Franchise,” he's established as this great Mets player. And you're this up and coming pitcher with high hopes. What was that moment like for young Dwight Gooden? DG: For me it was surreal… I told him, "Man, it's a pleasure to meet you." It was like being a little kid talking to your idol. I couldn't believe it. He said, "I'd like to see you up here real soon" and be teammates. That was always the goal. He said, "keep working hard, don't take no starts for granted and you'll be fine." I was listening to him talk and I was in awe. I couldn't wait to get back to my hotel to call my friends and tell them, "You're not going believe it! I had a conversation with Tom Seaver!" All my friends knew how much I loved him.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Great reading here. Tom Seaver... AND HIS MOUND!



He truly put the SHEA... In Shea Stadium.



http://leaptoad.com/mets/profile.php?PlayerCode=0150&tabno=7http://leaptoad.com/mets/profile.php?PlayerCode=0150&tabno=7



Twice are references to his creating a controversy by firing up a smoke on Kiners Korner. Any detail?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Read all about when Ron Hodges and Tom Seaver went out to eat a pigeon. Franklin County grad and ex-Mets catcher Ron Hodges mourns Tom Seaver https://roanoke.com/sports/professional/franklin-county-grad-and-ex-mets-catcher-ron-hodges-mourns-tom-seaver/article_b15f46bb-5fd6-5609-abdd-6dcb00173204.htmlhttps://roanoke.com/sports/professional/franklin-county-grad-and-ex-mets-catcher-ron-hodges-mourns-tom-seaver/article_b15f46bb-5fd6-5609-abdd-6dcb00173204.html That's a great get. Thanks for posting.

That was some real local reporting.

[Edgy MD]

Funny to think that with all those games pitched to Grote, Stearns, Johnny Bench, and Carlton Fisk, his one no-hitter was caught by Don Werner.

[G-Fafif]

Just somebody literally brought back to baseball by Tom Seaver, that's all.

In May, Ms. Gustines received a birthday card. “Dear Elena, we miss you! Please come back to the baseball family. The game really needs you and so do the Mets! Your friend, Tom Seaver.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/insider/the-friendship-of-elena-and-tom.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/insider/the-friendship-of-elena-and-tom.html

[whippoorwill]

Is that her hiney or a bikini bottom?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Tom Seaver by Andy Warhol, 1977.



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[FIMG=555]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cGm1kZP_TPFV05sztZaPEbXYvTl5TOJgUd19oAUZFAQZJMXw3yyOl68hkiA79a6Gqz9jYgOdLc_APzHNmJcyWoAaVttV2N3XhxD7XiVJM6Be9HaQOB-l8Iupcef05MHaDiFaeadwIHs[/FIMG]



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Sports portraits, 1977, by Andy Warhol

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[Edgy MD]

“For me it was tremendous,” Walt Terrell told the Chronicle. He was one of the guys I looked up to. Obviously, the talent level, I would love to say it was a little different but it was a lot different.” Seaver the jokester would ask to see Terrell's check on pay day and then reach into his pocket. “Let me cash that for you,” Seaver said.

https://www.qchron.com/editions/central/teammates-remember-seaver-the-greatest-met-dead-at-75/article_cec1e7fe-ee0d-11ea-818b-03430e247425.htmlhttps://www.qchron.com/editions/central/teammates-remember-seaver-the-greatest-met-dead-at-75/article_cec1e7fe-ee0d-11ea-818b-03430e247425.html

[batmagadanleadoff]

Tom Seaver by Leroy Neiman, 1992, to coincide with Seaver's HOF induction.



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[G-Fafif]

Tom Seaver: Supporter of local youth baseball and patron of nearby bakery.



https://napavalleyregister.com/sports/pro/mlb-valley-coaches-fans-remember-tom-seaver/article_97b68edc-44b9-501a-89ba-3ba50d8d852a.htmlhttps://napavalleyregister.com/sports/pro/mlb-valley-coaches-fans-remember-tom-seaver/article_97b68edc-44b9-501a-89ba-3ba50d8d852a.html

In 2016, he even agreed to throw out the first pitch at St. Helena Little League's opening day ceremony and give a speech to the players. Justin-Siena senior Max Zuntz was one of those players. Zuntz could never have dreamed his name would share a baseball with the great Seaver one day. But it happened this past January, thanks to the fact his neighbor owned a bakery that the Seaver family frequented many times over the years. Model Bakery owner Karen Mitchell said she had such a friendly relationship with the Seavers that when Zuntz's May birthday was coming up, she broke her own rule – don't bother the celebrities – by asking Seaver to sign a ball that she would give a most appreciative friend for his birthday. He readily obliged, writing “To Max, Best of Luck, Tom Seaver, HOF '92. Seaver wasn't just another celebrity to Mitchell. His daughter, Anne, worked at Model Bakery's Napa store at Oxbow Market when it opened in 2008. Still, Mitchell told the story with so much emotion, one might have thought she'd kept the ball. “People that know about baseball stats said ‘How in the world did you ever do that?' Well, I just smiled a lot,” Mitchell said. “Tom would come to the bakery for lunch with his caregiver two or three times a week and he'd been a regular customer and friend for a while. He didn't normally (sign memorabilia) unless it was for charity; famous athletes are pretty careful about getting their signature out there. But he did it as a favor for me because it was Max's birthday and Max is such a baseball fan.

[G-Fafif]

Recommending the latest edition of the Art Shamsky Podcast, with Ron Swoboda, former HOF president Jeff Idelson and WFAN's Bob Heussler reflecting on Tom. Idelson confirmed Nancy had arranged with the Hall that it and not the Mets make the announcement when the time came, which perhaps indicates what Nancy thinks of certain outgoing team owners.