Cincy to NY via Terre Haute

[G-Fafif]

Tom Seaver returns to face the Mets for the first time and you can listen to it here! The catch is it's the Reds broadcast team of Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall, big fans of the first-person plural. It was recorded from the Reds' affiliate in Terre Haute (where dreadful weather is coming, according to an alert) and it's on a site that seems a mite obsessed with JFK's assassination -- but it's Seaver at Shea, whatever the uniforms look and the voices sound like.

[Edgy MD]

It seemed that the Mets always tried to match up their default "guy" when Seaver was confronting them � Jerry Koosman, then Swan, and when Swan got extensively injured, Zachry.

I'm certain my memory of that is distorted by the drama of it all.

[G-Fafif]

According to Marty and Joe, it was Pat's turn, but Kooz asked the manager for the slot and Torre granted his wish (to Zachry's displeasure, they added).

[Edgy MD]

I did some quick checking.

Start one vs. Mets, 1977: Koosman.
Start two vs. Mets, 1978: Koosman.
Start three vs. Mets, 1979: Swannie.

So far, yeah, I guess.

[G-Fafif]

Lynch vs. Seaver in this completely forgotten classic (not that just about everything doesn't get forgotten after 34 or so years). Tom was great, Mets outlasted him. Crucial in the split-season charge the Mets were making at first place that late August. Also, I've decided, critical in costing Tom the 1981 Cy Young.

Bob Bailor's finest game as a Met. Drove in winning run, saved game with phenomenal catch.

[Benjamin Grimm]

G-Fafif wrote: According to Marty and Joe, it was Pat's turn, but Kooz asked the manager for the slot and Torre granted his wish (to Zachry's displeasure, they added).

That's how I remember it: Koosman specifically asked for the start.

I was at that game. Mezzanine level, third base side.

[Guest themetfairy]

I remember being there - it was incredible.

[dinosaur jesus]

G-Fafif wrote: Lynch vs. Seaver in this completely forgotten classic (not that just about everything doesn't get forgotten after 34 or so years). Tom was great, Mets outlasted him. Crucial in the split-season charge the Mets were making at first place that late August. Also, I've decided, critical in costing Tom the 1981 Cy Young. Bob Bailor's finest game as a Met. Drove in winning run, saved game with phenomenal catch.

Not forgotten by me. I remember being very happy at how this one turned out. Bottom of the ninth, two outs, Hubie on third, Seaver still in, and the ball gets by the catcher--that was one of the strangest moments in all my baseball-watching years, because while Hubie was racing home, I had to decide what I wanted to happen. If he scores, the Mets win, which is great, but Seaver loses, which is not so great. If he's out, we go to extra innings, and Seaver still has a chance to win--but that, of course, would mean the Mets losing. I had to go with the second, which is what happened, and it turned out perfectly--the Mets won, but Seaver didn't lose.

[Guest themetfairy]

I wrote this column about the game when I was with Mets Inside Pitch.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

themetfairy wrote: I wrote this column about the game when I was with Mets Inside Pitch.

You need to keep writing, Fairy! You're good!

[Guest themetfairy]

Thanks Michigan. Perhaps one day I'll get back to it.

[Edgy MD]

Seaver vs. Mets, game by game:

Date	Site	Opponent	Mets	Reds	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	Note
8/21/77	Shea Stadium	Koosman	1	5	W (14-5)	9.0	6	1	1	2	11	0	Comp. game. Seaver also hit a double, 2 RS.
7/13/78	Riverfront Stadium	Koosman	4	2	L (9-8)	7.0	4	3	1	2	8	0
6/4/79	Shea Stadium	Swan	6	2	L (2-5)	7.0	6	3	3	3	5	0	Swan went the distance. Doug Bair got bombed.
8/17/79	Riverfront Stadium	Kobel	3	4	ND (11-5)	7.0	6	3	2	2	2	1	Both runs scored on Mazzilli homer in the first. Mazz also threw Bench out at the plate. Freakin' Seaver went 2-2 with a double.
8/26/79	Riverfront Stadium	Falcone	0	8	W (12-5)	9.0	4	0	0	0	5	0	Fourth shutout of the year, and 49th of 61 career shutouts (tied for seventh). This was his tenth straight win without a loss since the Mets beat him June 4. Freakin' Seaver went 2-5 with a double and an RBI.
5/5/80	Shea Stadium	Bomback	3	2	ND (1-1)	8.0	6	2	2	0	3	0	Pinch-hit double by Ron Hodges off Doug Bair plated Alex Trevi�o with the winner in the 10th.
6/11/81	Shea Stadium	Zachry	2	5	W (7-1)	9.0	6	2	2	1	7	1	Fellow massacre victim Dave Kingman becomes second Met to homer off of Seaver. Sixth straight win for Seaver.
6/23/81	Riverfront Stadium	Lynch	3	2	ND (8-2)	9.0	4	2	2	1	2	0	Sacrifice fly by Bob Bailor plated extra-inning baserunning specialist Alex Trevi�o with the winner in the 10th off of Hume. Mets had tied it in the eighth on a PH 3B by by future interim manager Mike Cubbage and a PH SF by Mike Jorgensen. This game possibly cost Seaver the Cy Young.
6/28/81	Shea Stadium	Lynch	2	5	W (9-2)	9.0	9	2	2	3	3	1	HR by Ellis Valentine. Seaver went 7-1 before the strike and would go 7-1 after the strike. He went 2-3 in this game with an RBI and a sac bunt.
5/19/82	Shea Stadium	Zachry	4	2	L (1-5)	6.0	5	4	4	2	4	1	Mets padding Seaver's loss total in order to soften the market for a trade. This would be his shortest workday against the Mets, but they would never chase him mid-inning. HR by Kong, 2B by Foster, as the hopes in a bash brothers threat from the two of them was still young and beautiful.
6/4/82	Riverfront Stadium	Scott	3	8	W (2-6)	7.0	8	3	3	1	6	1	Foster hits his only homer off of Seaver as a Met in Seaver's final turn. Scott pitched some good games in 1981 (including a memorable one against Valenzuela), but he got clobbered this time out. Seaver, of course, went 1-2 with a run scored.
Total	-	-	36	45	5-3	87.0	64.0	25.0	22.0	17.0	56.0	5.0
Average	-	-	3.27	4.09	-	7.9	5.8	2.3	2.0	1.5	5.1	0.5

[batmagadanleadoff]

G-Fafif wrote: Tom Seaver returns to face the Mets for the first time....

Right around this time, Andy Warhol was immersed in his silkscreen portrait series of sports stars, which included this piece featuring recently arrived Red, Tom Seaver.



Warhol's Seaver, along with his only other known baseball themed artworks (a Maris and a Rose) go on exhibit at the Cincinnatti Art Museum next week.