Pitcher, New
York Mets
Age: 22
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’1” Weight: 195
Prior to 1967:
A native of
Fresno, California, Seaver started in Little League at age 9 as a
pitcher/outfielder. Performing well in high school, he moved on to Fresno City
College, where he won 11 straight games in his second year and transferred to
USC. In his first season at USC Seaver was 10-2 with 100 strikeouts in 100
innings pitched. He was selected by the Braves in the 1966 amateur draft. The
Braves signed him while his college season was in progress, which was in violation
of major league rules. Commissioner William Eckert voided the contract and
allowed three teams, the Mets, Indians, and Phillies, to participate in a
lottery for Seaver since they were willing to match the $51,500 offer made by
the Braves. The Mets won the lottery. Seaver was assigned to the Jacksonville
Suns of the Class AAA International League and compiled a 12-12 record with a
3.13 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 210 innings pitched in ‘66. Seaver advanced to
the perennially-losing Mets in 1967.
1967 Season Summary
Appeared in 36
games
P – 35, PR – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 35
Games Started –
34 [8, tied with Don Sutton]
Complete Games
– 18 [2, tied with Gaylord Perry]
Wins – 16 [5,
tied with four others]
Losses – 13 [9,
tied with Ferguson Jenkins, Milt Pappas & Tommie Sisk]
PCT - .552 [19,
tied with Milt Pappas]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 2 [18,
tied with ten others]
Innings Pitched
– 251 [8]
Hits – 224 [10]
Runs – 85 [18]
Earned Runs – 77
[16, tied with Jim Bunning & Tommie Sisk]
Home Runs – 19 [10,
tied with four others]
Bases on Balls
– 78 [5, tied with Tommie Sisk]
Strikeouts – 170
[8]
ERA – 2.76 [10,
tied with Mel Queen & Juan Marichal]
Hit Batters – 5
[14, tied with eleven others]
Balks – 0
Wild Pitches – 5
Most
strikeouts, game – 12 (in 7 IP) vs. Houston 7/19
10+ strikeout
games – 1
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 3 (in 9 IP) vs. Houston 9/23
Batting
PA – 93, AB – 77,
R – 5, H – 11, 2B – 2, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 5, BB – 8, SO – 24, SB – 2, CS – 0,
AVG - .143, GDP – 0, HBP – 1, SH – 6, SF – 1
Fielding
Chances – 56
Put Outs – 17
Assists – 38
Errors – 1
DP – 3
Pct. - .982
Awards & Honors:
NL Rookie of
the Year: BBWAA
All-Star
22nd
in NL MVP voting, tied with Jim Bunning, Phila., Bob Gibson, StL. & Randy
Hundley, ChiC. (5 points, 2% share)
NL ROY Voting:
Tom Seaver, NYM.:
11 of 20 votes, 55% share
Dick Hughes, StL.:
6 votes, 30% share
Gary Nolan,
Cin.: 3 votes, 15% share
Mets went 61-101
to finish tenth in the NL, 40.5 games behind the
pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals, their fifth last-place finish in six years
of existence.
Aftermath of ‘67:
Seaver followed
up with another solid season in 1968, going 16-12 with a 2.20 ERA and again
gaining All-Star recognition. With the Mets undergoing a transition that would
pay dividends in another year, Seaver was joined in the pitching rotation by
rookie LHP Jerry Koosman, to good effect. Seaver and the Mets prospered in 1969
as the club won the NL East in the first year of divisional play in the major
leagues and went on to win the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles. Seaver
contributed a 25-7 record with a 2.21 ERA and 208 strikeouts. In a July game
against the Cubs, the chief division rival, Seaver took a perfect game into the
ninth inning, only to end up with a one-hit shutout. The team’s primary leader
and motivator, he added two more wins in the postseason and received the NL Cy
Young Award in addition to placing second in league MVP voting. In 1970 Seaver tied
the then-major league record with 19 strikeouts in a game against San Diego,
the last 10 in succession. He went on to compile an 18-12 record while leading
the NL in both ERA (2.82) and strikeouts (283). The Mets placed third in the NL
East and Seaver finished seventh in voting for the NL Cy Young Award. He again
led the NL with a 1.76 ERA and 289 strikeouts in 1971 while posting a 20-10
tally with the 83-79 Mets. The perfectionist pitcher known as “Tom Terrific” or
“The Franchise”, with his excellent fastball and slider, continued to excel in
1972, going 21-12 with a 2.92 ERA and 249 strikeouts for an 83-73 club that
finished last in NL team batting (.225). He tied for fifth in NL Cy Young
voting. In 1973 the Mets rode a September surge to win the NL East with an
82-79 tally. Seaver went 19-10 with a league-leading 2.08 ERA, 251 strikeouts,
and 18 complete games, and received his second NL Cy Young Award. He further
contributed the NLCS-clinching win against Cincinnati to give the Mets the
league pennant. He was 0-1 in the seven-game World Series loss to the Oakland A’s.
Seaver was rewarded with a $172,000 contract that made him the highest-paid pitcher
at the time but was dogged by shoulder and hip pain in 1974 and dropped to an
11-11 record with a 3.20 ERA and 201 strikeouts over 236 innings pitched. He
missed being an All-Star for the first time in his career but came back strong
in 1975 with a 22-9 tally and 2.38 ERA, leading the NL with 243 strikeouts. For
his performance he won his third Cy Young Award. In a September game he took a
no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Cubs in Chicago, gave up a hit, and
the scoreless contest went into extra innings with the Mets losing in the eleventh
(Seaver pitched 10 shutout innings, surrendering three hits in all). 1976 was a
relative down year for Seaver in which he produced a 14-11 record for the
light-hitting Mets with a respectable 2.59 ERA and NL-leading 235 strikeouts. Seaver
became embroiled in a contract dispute with board chairman M. Donald Grant that
became highly publicized in the media and led to his being traded to the
Cincinnati Reds for four players in the so-called “Midnight Massacre” in June
of 1977. Seaver was 7-3 with a 3.00 ERA at the time of the deal and finished up
the year with a 21-6 record and 2.58 ERA and 196 strikeouts, tying for third in
NL Cy Young balloting. He followed up with a 16-14 tally in 1978 with a 2.88
ERA and 226 strikeouts. Battling injuries in 1979 Seaver went 16-6 with a 3.14
ERA and 131 strikeouts for the division-topping Reds. Arm trouble limited him
to 168 innings in 1980 and a 10-8 record with a 3.64 ERA and 101 strikeouts. He
bounced back to 14-2 with a 2.54 ERA in the strike-interrupted 1981 season and
placed second in NL Cy Young Award voting. Suffering from a respiratory
infection during spring training in 1982, Seaver’s record dropped to a dismal
5-13 with a 5.50 ERA for the last-place Reds, with a sore shoulder finishing
his season in August. In the offseason, the 38-year-old fading star was traded
back to the Mets. The result was a 9-14 mark in 1983 with a 3.55 ERA and 135
strikeouts in 231 innings pitched. He changed teams again in the ensuing
offseason when the Chicago White Sox took him as a free agent compensation selection.
He spent two ordinary years with the White Sox, producing a 15-11 record with a
3.95 ERA in 1984 and going 16-11, including his 300th career win, in
‘85 with a 3.17 ERA. During the 1986 season he was dealt to the Boston Red Sox,
who were on the way to their first pennant since 1975, where his long career
came to an end. Overall for his major
league career, Seaver compiled a 311-205 record with a 2.86 ERA and 3640
strikeouts in 4783 innings pitched. He pitched over 250 innings ten times and reached
200 strikeouts also on ten occasions, leading the NL five times. With the Mets
Seaver was 198-124 with a 2.57 ERA and 2541 strikeouts. He was a 12-time
All-Star (9 with the Mets) and won three Cy Young Awards (all with the Mets). In
the postseason Seaver was 3-3 with a 2.77 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 61.2 innings
pitched. The Mets retired his #41 and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1992 by receiving 98.84 % of votes cast (a record at the time).
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of
the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America
(1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from
its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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