Tom Seaver was a HOF pitcher, a larger-than-life figure --one of baseball's greats who died at 75 on Wednesday.
A NY native and Bay Area sports media personality who knew Seaver well; Ted Robinson grew up a Mets fan in NY --Flushing. Was able to broadcast Mets' games and began a friendship with Tom and his wife and family when Seaver spent his sunset years in Calistoga harvesting grapes.
Robinson spoke poignantly on KCBS this morning with Stan Bunger and Steve Bitker. Said Teddy Ballgame about Seaver: "He was the greatest right-handed pitcher ever." Quite a statement. And quite true.
Fresno High grad and a season at Fresno City College - with two years in the Marines in between. His high school team beat Cal in a scrimmage.
ReplyDeleteRyan, Gibson, and Marichal might argue that point...
ReplyDeleteRyan won 300 games but Gibson and Marichal didn't
DeleteSeaver mentored Ryan, as the Express began his career with the Mets. When Seaver was a rookie, Ryan was in the Army (but was not sent to Vietnam due to family complications). When Ryan returned to Baseball, Seaver took him under his wing.
DeleteTom Seaver was a gentleman, a class act. Ted Robinson shares those traits.
ReplyDeleteThere were alot of great right hand pitchers before our time, that were great, Walter Johnson and Cy Young come to mind that had more wins then Seaver. I will say that Tom Seaver is the Greatest Met of all time and he was unfortantley not treated very nicely by the New York media and was considered greedy when he wanted to renogotiate his contract to be in line with other great pitchers during that time and it was sinful that he never got a Statue from the Mets organization.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, I so LOVED the dreadful, awful Mets in 1969, and they DID IT, didn't they? WHO in this audience was watching TV (i.e., you were ALIVE and BREATHING) during that World Series. Tommy Agee, wow, RIP Tommy Terrific. Great ballplayer
ReplyDeleteCurt Gowdy let both teams' PBP broadcasters into the NBC booth. Chuck Thompson from Baltimore, and both Lindsey Nelson & Bob Murphy from the Mets. After Seaver lost Game 1 at Baltimore, he paid them back at Shea with a 10-inning 6-hitter in Game 4. The Mets won it all in Game 5 the next day.
DeleteGowdy's name is on all three major teams sports' pro broadcasting awards, because the long time NBC & ABC voice had a deep, studious respect for all the teams' local voices. When NBC had the exclusive MLB contract from the early 1960s to 1975, Gowdy always gave each local PBP-er a chance to showcase themselves nationally.
Gowdy did the same thing in the other Seaver Mets World Series - 1973, when Nelson & Murphy from the Mets, and Monte Moore from our Oakland A's all received significant NBC airtime. In fact, after a Game 3 no-decision in Queens in which the A's won in 11 innings, 3-2 to go up 2-1, when Seaver came to Oakland in front of his Fresno family and friends to try and clinch the Mets' second title in 5 seasons, Gowdy allowed Moore to introduce on NBC all of us - and unfortunately for Seaver - a new Championship star known as Mr. October. Reggie Jackson hit two doubles in Game 6 to help the A's tie the series at 3-3, winning 3-1. And the next day in Game 7, Gowdy let Moore call Oakland's only two home runs of the 73 World Series - Bert Campaneris and Jackson each hitting two-run shots to win the title for the A's 4-3, by a score of 5-2.
Unfortunately, as Mr. Felt will tell you, the Oakland Repeat World Series victory was overshadowed on NBC by a bigger news story on Nightly News - the Saturday Night Massacre. As in President Richard Nixon knee deep in Watergate. Garrick Utley anchoring the weekends, John Chancellor the weeknights.
When KRON-TV aired the Series on Channel 4, I believe it was just as the Fred LaCosse Era began.
Sad to hear of Tom Terrific's passing. Another name from my childhood has passed on. I heard he was suffering from dementia. Adding COVID is disheartening. The '69 Miracle Mets were a little before my time, but in the days before cable TV and the choice was one weekly nationally televized game on NBC, Tom Seaver was the best NL pitcher in 1973 going against the A's in the World Series. Shows how great the A's teams were back then.
DeleteIN the biggest game i would take Tom Seaver and I would take him over anyone who ever pitched in organized baseball
ReplyDeleteSeaver was great pitcher, a good man who had time for everyone. He is now gone but the fan's memories of him will remain
And Ferguson Jenkins and Walter Johnson might argue that point along with Gibson, Marichal and Ryan.
ReplyDeleteNonsense. Seaver was great. But it's laughable to call him the greatest right-handed pitcher ever. Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson, Walter Johnson, Satchel Paige, Pedro Martinez?
ReplyDelete