1944
Born November 17, 1944
Fresno, CA, USA
Tom Seaver Marquee Hall of Fame 1992
b. November 17, 1944 · New York Mets 1967–1977, 1983, Cincinnati Reds 1977–1982, Chicago White Sox 1984–1986, Boston Red Sox 1986
The Mets lost 120 games in their first season and did not finish higher than ninth in any of the five that followed. Seaver joined them in 1967 and was named Rookie of the Year. Two years later they went 100-62 and won the World Series, and he took the first of his three Cy Young Awards.
He led the National League in strikeouts five times, finished with 3,640, and threw 61 shutouts across twenty seasons. In the middle of the 1977 season the Mets traded him to Cincinnati, a decision New York treated as a civic injury. He pitched five and a half years for the Reds and returned to Queens in 1983.
Twelve All-Star selections and a record of 311-205 followed. What the numbers cannot carry is how completely he changed the Mets: a team that had been a national joke for its first seven years became a champion with him pitching. He finished in 1986 with Chicago and Boston, entered the Hall of Fame in 1992, and died on August 31, 2020.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 12 | 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981 |
| Player of the Week | 6 | 1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1985 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 4 | 1969, 1973, 1975, 1981 |
| Cy Young Award | 3 | 1969, 1973, 1975 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 3 | 1975, 1977, 1981 |
| The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year | 2 | 1969, 1975 |
| Bob Feller Act of Valor Award - HOF Player | 1 | 2017 |
| Rookie of the Year | 1 | 1967 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | NYM | 36 | 77 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 2 | .143 |
| 1968 | NYM | 38 | 95 | 5 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 44 | 0 | .158 |
| 1969 | NYM | 39 | 91 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 1 | .121 |
| 1970 | NYM | 42 | 95 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 31 | 0 | .179 |
| 1971 | NYM | 39 | 92 | 8 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 31 | 0 | .196 |
| 1972 | NYM | 36 | 89 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 41 | 0 | .146 |
| 1973 | NYM | 39 | 93 | 9 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 34 | 1 | .161 |
| 1974 | NYM | 32 | 71 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 28 | 0 | .099 |
| 1975 | NYM | 37 | 95 | 7 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 0 | .179 |
| 1976 | NYM | 35 | 82 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 26 | 0 | .085 |
| 1977 | CIN/NYM | 33 | 86 | 11 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 33 | 0 | .198 |
| 1978 | CIN | 36 | 74 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 31 | 0 | .122 |
| 1979 | CIN | 33 | 76 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 29 | 0 | .158 |
| 1980 | CIN | 26 | 46 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 0 | .130 |
| 1981 | CIN | 23 | 55 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 0 | .200 |
| 1982 | CIN | 22 | 34 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 0 | .176 |
| 1983 | NYM | 34 | 64 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 26 | 0 | .156 |
| 1984 | CHW | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1985 | CHW | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1986 | BOS/CHW | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 677 | 1315 | 99 | 202 | 28 | 5 | 12 | 86 | 108 | 485 | 4 | .154 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | NYM | 16 | 13 | 35 | 34 | 0 | 251.0 | 224 | 77 | 78 | 170 | 2.76 |
| 1968 | NYM | 16 | 12 | 36 | 35 | 1 | 277.2 | 224 | 68 | 48 | 205 | 2.20 |
| 1969 | NYM | 25 | 7 | 36 | 35 | 0 | 273.1 | 202 | 67 | 82 | 208 | 2.21 |
| 1970 | NYM | 18 | 12 | 37 | 36 | 0 | 290.2 | 230 | 91 | 83 | 283 | 2.82 |
| 1971 | NYM | 20 | 10 | 36 | 35 | 0 | 286.1 | 210 | 56 | 61 | 289 | 1.76 |
| 1972 | NYM | 21 | 12 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 262.0 | 215 | 85 | 77 | 249 | 2.92 |
| 1973 | NYM | 19 | 10 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 290.0 | 219 | 67 | 64 | 251 | 2.08 |
| 1974 | NYM | 11 | 11 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 236.0 | 199 | 84 | 75 | 201 | 3.20 |
| 1975 | NYM | 22 | 9 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 280.1 | 217 | 74 | 88 | 243 | 2.38 |
| 1976 | NYM | 14 | 11 | 35 | 34 | 0 | 271.0 | 211 | 78 | 77 | 235 | 2.59 |
| 1977 | CIN/NYM | 21 | 6 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 261.1 | 199 | 75 | 66 | 196 | 2.58 |
| 1978 | CIN | 16 | 14 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 259.2 | 218 | 83 | 89 | 226 | 2.88 |
| 1979 | CIN | 16 | 6 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 215.0 | 187 | 75 | 61 | 131 | 3.14 |
| 1980 | CIN | 10 | 8 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 168.0 | 140 | 68 | 59 | 101 | 3.64 |
| 1981 | CIN | 14 | 2 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 166.1 | 120 | 47 | 66 | 87 | 2.54 |
| 1982 | CIN | 5 | 13 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 111.1 | 136 | 68 | 44 | 62 | 5.50 |
| 1983 | NYM | 9 | 14 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 231.0 | 201 | 91 | 86 | 135 | 3.55 |
| 1984 | CHW | 15 | 11 | 34 | 33 | 0 | 236.2 | 216 | 104 | 61 | 131 | 3.95 |
| 1985 | CHW | 16 | 11 | 35 | 33 | 0 | 238.2 | 223 | 84 | 69 | 134 | 3.17 |
| 1986 | BOS/CHW | 7 | 13 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 176.1 | 180 | 79 | 56 | 103 | 4.03 |
| Career | — | 311 | 205 | 656 | 647 | 1 | 4782.2 | 3971 | 1521 | 1390 | 3640 | 2.86 |
On this day & linked events
2020
Died August 31, 2020
1967
Major-league debut: Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver made a major-league debut on April 13, 1967.
1978
Tom Seaver's No-Hitter
Tom Seaver threw a no-hitter for the Cincinnati Reds against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16, 1978, winning 4–0.
1986
Final major-league game: Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver played a final major-league game on September 19, 1986.
Image: Krusty, CC BY-SA 2.0