Baseball Hall of Fame
The Baseball Hall of Fame has announced that Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver passed away in the early hours of Monday, August 31. He was 75. Seaver passed peacefully in his sleep of complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19.
“We are heartbroken to share that our beloved husband and father has passed away,” said his wife Nancy Seaver and daughters Sarah and Anne. “We send our love out to his fans, as we mourn his loss with you.”
Tom Seaver (Wikipedia)
Seaver won 311 games, had a 2.86 earned-run average and struck out 3,640 batters over a 20-year major league career that spanned from 1967-1986, earning 12 All-Star selections. He led the National League in wins three times, ERA three times and strikeouts five times. Seaver was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992 when he was named on 98.8 percent of ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, the highest voting percentage ever received at the time.
“Tom Seaver’s life exemplified greatness in the game, as well as integrity, character, and sportsmanship – the ideals of a Hall of Fame career,” said Jane Forbes Clark, Chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “As a longtime member of the Hall of Fame Board of Directors, Tom brought dignity and wisdom to this institution that will be deeply missed. His love for baseball history, and for the Hall of Fame, was reinforced in 2014, when he pledged the donation of his personal baseball collection to the Museum. His wonderful legacy will be preserved forever in Cooperstown.”
Seaver, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, was obtained by the Mets in a special draft lottery in 1966 and earned the 1967 National League Rookie of the Year Award. “Tom Terrific” went on to help change the team from lovable losers into the “Miracle Mets,” bringing the team its first World Championship in 1969 in only its eighth year of play, while earning his first of three National League Cy Young awards.
Seaver won National League ERA titles in three of the next four seasons, capturing his second Cy Young Award in 1973 while leading the Mets to the N.L. pennant. In 1970, Seaver tied a major league record, striking out 19 San Diego Padres in a game that included a record 10 consecutive strikeouts to end the game. In 1975, Seaver won his third NL Cy Young Award. In addition to his 12 seasons with the Mets, Seaver spent parts of six seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, three with the Chicago White Sox and one with the Boston Red Sox.
In six seasons with the Reds, Seaver was 75–46 with a 3.18 ERA and 42 complete games in 158 starts.
See the rest of the Hall of Fame story here.
