George Thomas Seaver (born November 17, 1944 in Fresno, California) broke into the major leagues in 1967 and retired in 1986. He played for four different teams in his career, but was primarily associated with his first: the New York Mets. Nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise," Seaver had 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts and a 2.86 ERA during a 20-year career. In 1992 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

He won the National League Rookie of the Year Award and three Cy Young Awards as the league's best pitcher. As the Mets' all-time leader in wins, Seaver is considered the greatest player in club history, as well as one of the best MLB starting pitchers of all time.

Despite being an All-City basketball player, he hoped to play baseball in college. After six months of active duty in the Marine Corps Reserves, Seaver enrolled at Fresno City College. The next year, he was recruited to pitch for the University of Southern California.

In 1966 he signed a contract with the Atlanta Braves, who had drafted him. However Baseball Commissioner William Eckert voided the contract because of NCAA rule violations.The Mets were subsequently awarded his signing rights in a lottery drawing.

Seaver spent a single season with the Jacksonville Suns of the International League, then joined New York in 1967. He won 16 games for the last-place Mets, with 18 complete games and two shutouts, and was named the National League Rookie of the Year. In 1968 he won 16 games again, and recorded over 200 strikeouts for the first of nine consecutive seasons; but the Mets moved up only one spot in the standings, to ninth.

In 1969, Seaver and the Mets completed a remarkable season, rising from the depths of the National League to win their first World Series championship. Seaver won a league-high 25 games and his first National League Cy Young Award.

On July 9, before a crowd of over 59,000 at New York's Shea Stadium, Seaver threw 8 1/3 perfect innings against the division-leading Chicago Cubs. Then, rookie backup outfielder Jimmy Qualls lined a clean single to left field, breaking up Seaver's perfect game. He retired the next two batters to complete the 4-0 one-hit shutout. At year's end, Seaver was presented with both the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year, and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.

On April 22, 1970, Seaver set a modern major league record by striking out the final 10 San Diego Padres batters of the game. In addition to his 10 consecutive strikeouts, Seaver finished the game with 19 strikeouts, tying Steve Carlton's major league record for a nine-inning game. Just four days earlier, Nolan Ryan had tied the former Mets record for K's in one game, which had been 15. (The record was later eclipsed by 20-strikeout games by Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson, and twice by Roger Clemens.)

Seaver had three more 20-plus seasons (20 in 1971, 21 in 1972, and 22 in 1975) and two more Cy Young Awards (1973 and 1975) with the Mets. He was the runner-up for the award in 1971. Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts six of the seven seasons, finishing third in 1975. Seaver also won three ERA titles as a Met.

In what New York's sports reporters dubbed "the Midnight Massacre," Mets General Manager M. Donald Grant sent Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds on June 15, 1977 after contentious free agency contract negotiations deteriorated. Seaver finished the 1977 season with 21 wins by going 14-3 with Cincinnati, including an emotional 5-1 win over the Mets in his return to Shea Stadium. Seaver struck out 11 in the return, and also hit a double. Seaver finally recorded a 4-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16, 1978 at Riverfront Stadium.

After the 1982 season on December 16, 1982, Seaver was traded back to the Mets. On April 5, 1983, he tied Walter Johnson's major league record of 14 Opening Day starts, shutting out the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0. (He made two more such starts with the Chicago White Sox in 1985 and 1986 for a record total of 16 opening day assignments.)

The Chicago White Sox stunned both Seaver and the Mets by claiming the 39 year-old hurler in a free-agent compensation draft. Incorrectly presuming no team would act on the option to sign Seaver, Mets management blundered again and left him off the unprotected list. Seaver pitched two and a half seasons in Chicago, crafting his last shutout on July 19, 1985 against the visiting Indians.

On August 4, 1985, Seaver won his 300th game at New York against the Yankees. He ended his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1986, traded at mid-season. His 311th and last win came on August 18, 1986 against the Minnesota Twins.

A knee injury prevented him from appearing against the Mets in the World Series, but Seaver received among the loudest ovations during player introductions prior to Game 1. The Red Sox released him following the 1986 season. Seaver briefly tried to make a comeback with the Mets in 1987, but retired after being shelled in an exhibition start against the Mets' Triple-A affiliate, the Tidewater Tides. The Mets retired his uniform number 41 in 1988.

Seaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 7, 1992. He received the highest-ever percentage of voteswith 425 of 430 ballots (98.84%), surpassing Ty Cobb's 98.23%, and falling just five votes short of unanimous selection. Seaver was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1992, and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2006.

Since retirement, Seaver has sometimes been a television color commentator. He has also worked as a part-time scout, and as a spring training pitching coach. Currently, he lives in California, where he tends to his vineyards.

Achievements and Honors

• All Star Games: 12
• Cy Young Award: 1969, 1973, 1975
• Led league in ERA: 1970 (2.82), 1971 (1.76) & 1973 (2.08)
• Led league in wins: 1969 (25), 1975 (22), 1981 (14)
• Led league in strikeouts: 1970 (283), 1971 (289), 1973 (251), 1975 (243) & 1976 (235)
• Career strikeouts: 3640
• Career record: 311-205

Career Statistics

Contact Information

Visit Tom Seaver's official website at www.tomterrificseaver.com
To send an email to Tom, contact tseaver@hofmag.com