Tom Brennan - MY MEMORIES OF THE GREAT TOM SEAVER

The great Tom Seaver:

Gone too soon at the age of 75.  Legends should never die.

This one really hurts.

Great, great man, beloved by Mets fans.  Including this writer.

Flashing back, I was a kid, grasping for straws, any slivers of hope, however slight, as the Mets lost over 100 games in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1966.

Then a kid named Seaver came along in 1967.  18 complete games, 2.76 ERA, 16-13 for a team whose previous career wins leader had 11.  Rookie of the year.  A thrill to watch.

Watching him even then was to watch greatness.  Watching him was watching hopes for a better day. 

It wasn't an immediate miracle - that Mets team was still atrocious, finishing 40.5 games out of 1st place.  They still lost 101.

The next year, though, a terrific talent named Jerry Koosman showed up and won 19, while Seaver won 16 again, the two of them accounting for 35 of the Mets' 73 wins.  As a kid, I knew that if you removed the Tommie Agee beaning, this was a .500 ballclub.

Seaver then, with an improved team and plenty of fairy dust in the air, went 25-7 in 1969 and combined with Kooz for 42 wins out of the Mets' 100.  Then a World Series victory.

It felt like it would go on forever, that there would be many such World Series triumphs, but the Mets annually failed to hit, hampering the team's performance, and making it almost as hard for Seaver to win as it is for Jake deGrom now.

In one of those ghastly moves that should have forever caused Mets fans to jump ship, the Mets actually traded the Franchise in the mid 70s while quibbling over very modest bucks.  One Daily News writer liked to excoriate Seaver, but we all knew better.  Fake news.

Seaver got traded to a team that could hit, the Reds, and went 75-46 in 158 starts with them - starts that should have been with the Mets.  

ALL Seaver career starts in a sane world should have been with the NY Mets.  But the Mets were guilty of defrauding its fans by trading Tom Terrific.

Sixty one career shutouts.  Worth repeating: 61 shutouts, the equivalent of 2 full seasons of starts.

The Mets got him back in 1983, and despite a commendable 3.55 ERA, the team that couldn't hit straight was 9-14, but he did get to play with Keith and Darryl that season, a wonderful intersection of great talents.

Then Seaver, the man who should never have left, pitched his last 3 seasons with the White Sox and Red Sox.  The first two of those seasons, the awesome one went 31-22.

My fondest memory was coming home one day and flipping on the TV just in time to watch Seaver fan 10 straight.  He was throwing raw heat like I'd never seen from him.  It was mind-blowing to watch.

The man was always First Class, Ambassador Class, the best.

Incredibly missed by those especially who were blessed enough to get to see the Legend in action.

Condolences to his family over this huge loss.

THE GREAT TOM SEAVER.