Cy Young Profile: Tom Seaver, 1975

 Pitcher, New York Mets

Age:  30

9^th season with Mets

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 195

 

Prior to 1975:

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. He posted a 16-13 record with a 2.76 ERA and received NL Rookie of the Year as well as All-Star recognition. 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

 

 

1975 Season Summary

Appeared in 37 games

P – 36, PR – 1

 

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

 

Pitching

Games – 36

Games Started – 36 [7, tied with Bill Bonham & Randy Jones]

Complete Games – 15 [3, tied with Jerry Reuss]

Wins – 22 [1]

Losses – 9

PCT - .710 [2]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 5 [4]

Innings Pitched – 280.1 [3]

Hits – 217 [19, tied with Steve Carlton]

Runs – 81

Earned Runs – 74

Home Runs – 11

Bases on Balls – 88 [11, tied with Steve Rogers]

Strikeouts – 243 [1]

ERA – 2.38 [3]

Hit Batters – 4

Balks – 1

Wild Pitches – 7

 

League-leading wins were +2 ahead of runner-up Randy Jones

League-leading strikeouts were +28 ahead of runner-up John Montefusco

 

Midseason Snapshot: 13-5, ERA – 1.93, SO – 137 in 163 IP

 

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Most strikeouts, game – 11 (in 8.1 IP) vs. Philadelphia 6/29

10+ strikeout games – 3

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 3 (in 9 IP) at San Diego 6/15, (in 9 IP) vs. Montreal 8/7, (in 7.1 IP) vs. San Francisco 8/17, (in 10 IP) at Chi. Cubs 9/24

 

Batting

PA – 111, AB – 95, R – 7, H – 17, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 5, BB – 8, SO – 24, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .179, GDP – 2, HBP – 1, SH – 7, SF – 0

 

Fielding

Chances – 68

Put Outs – 21

Assists – 43

Errors – 4

DP – 6

Pct. - .941

 

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

NL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

9^th in NL MVP voting (65 points, 19% share)

 

NL Cy Young Voting (Top 4):

Tom Seaver, NYM.: 98 pts. – 15 of 24 first place votes, 82% share

Randy Jones, SD: 80 pts. – 7 first place votes, 67% share

Al Hrabosky, StL.: 33 pts. – 2 first place votes, 28% share

John Montefusco, SF: 2 pts. – 2% share

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Mets went 82-80 to finish third in the NL Eastern Division, 10.5 games behind the division-winning Pittsburgh Pirates while the pitching staff led the league in strikeouts (989). In a tumultuous season, manager Yogi Berra was replaced in August by Roy McMillan. They pulled as close as four games out of first on Labor Day before settling into third as September continued.

 

Aftermath of ‘75:

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 300^th 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). He died in 2020 at age 75.

 

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Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.