Tom Seaver Has Died

Dementia is a bitch.

After he retired somebody asked him who was the best catcher he ever threw to and without hesitation he said Jerry Grote.

Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio.

I love that quote because he always looked like the perfect pitcher to me. Seamless delivery, always one step ahead of the hitter. Physically and mentally all there.

Tom "Terrific" My dad and I saw him pitch at Shea Stadium back in April, 1969 against the St. Louis Cardinals and Bob Gibson. It was a great thrill to see two hall of fame pitchers in their prime and it brings back great memories. Tom Seaver was not only a great pitcher but a great family man and fine person.

Another victim of Donald Trump.

I heard many stories about him at USC. All positive. He was the All-America image of that era, contrasting with brash Broadway Joe. I remember the shaving cream commercials

I stayed home from school one day to watch a game in that '69 World Series. That's when the games were still during daytime

RIP

When he was a young man Hank Aaron went up to him. Tom said I'm surprised you know who I am. Hank said pretty soon the whole world will know who you are. One time Muhammad Ali's confidante and biographer Thomas Hauser took Tom Seaver and Muhammad Ali out to dinner. After the dinner Ali said to Hauser, he seems like a nice guy what does he do?

I remember him. I'm sure I collected his baseball card.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/mlb/mets/2020/09/02/tom-seaver-ny-mets-legend-dead-covid-dementia-complications/5699265002/

I know I've got a couple Tom Seaver Rookie Cards. Never really got professional estimate but if I have to live through another Republican President they may be my retirement portfolio

The Boyscout

Damn. This hurts.

His fast pitches looked effortless. Johnny Bench was thrilled by the signing.

But I once saw a post on a baseball site that mentioned a statistic that if Seaver had won 1/2 the games he lost 1-0 or 2 -1, he’d have had 500 wins. Supposedly, like Hamels of the Phillies, the team didn't score many runs for him.

Not certain of the validity of this though, but it sounds about right.

I was a huge Tom Seaver fan as a little boy. I once had to write a book report and mine was on a book about Tom Terrific. I waxed poetic, at least as much as a 11 year old was able, and concluded that I admired Tom so much I wished that he was my father. Well, my dad read my book report and spoke with me about it later. He had tears in his eyes and told me how much it hurt to have read that I wished Seaver had been my father. I honestly had meant him no disrespect but I realized at that moment how much I'd hurt him and I made it a point to show my father the extent of my love and respect for him for the rest of my life.

No, Tom Seaver had nothing to do with this, but reading this story made me think of him and then my book report. God I miss my dad.

RIP Tom. You were a great pitcher, probably a great guy to know, and probably a great father to boot. I know my dad was.

Not sure how I became a Mets fan growing up in Maryland, but I was and I had a big poster of Tom Seaver on my wall. He always impressed me as a good person and role model.