Tom Seaver – 1977 Topps # 150

We see Tom Seaver’s 1977 Topps card just below. I like the photograph and the simplicity of the team’s uniform. It was the last card issued during his initial tenure with the team. How his banishment to the Cincinnati Reds unfolded has been told too many times to be repeated here. As for myself, let me say that after the trade, which I equated to God trading Jesus, I didn’t return to Shea until Tom Seaver was reacquired in 1983.

In 1967, Tom Seaver exploded onto the scene like a super nova, signaling that the New York Mets universe would never be the same. Who was this guy? Didn’t he know that as a Met he was supposed to stink? He actually thought he could win! And he did! “Tom Terrific” instilled something in the other Mets players, a belief, a confidence, a sense that victory was not only within reach, but clearly attainable. When he pitched for the Mets, his teammates performed at a higher level. You could see it. You could feel it. He was dazzling.

I remember watching him close out the All-Star game that summer, and shaking the hands of the other National League players after their side won. Tom Seaver looked like he belonged, and proved it as the season wore on, winning the National League’s Rookie of the Year Award. In doing so he compiled a 16-12 record, good for a .552 record. In games when he did not factor into the decision, the Mets went 45-88, for a record of .338. How’s that for an impact pitcher?

He would only get better. During the 1969 stretch drive he emerged as a full-blown superstar, an unbeatable, unstoppable force. I have often said that in my entire life I will never experience any story more improbable than the 1969 New York Mets, and in the intervening forty-three years, I haven’t. Tom Seaver was the symbol of the team’s remarkable metamorphosis, one that saw the Metropolitans rise from ninth place in 1968 to World Series Champions the next. The words on his Hall of Fame plaque express this perfectly by saying ” franchise power pitcher who transformed Mets from lovable losers into formidable foes.”

That’s good enough for me, and good enough for a lot of people. Isn’t that right, Phil?