1976 Kellogg's #32 - Tom Seaver

• What did he do to deserve a 1976 Kellogg's card?
• Tom Seaver was one of the best (if not the best) pitchers in baseball in the 1970s.
• In 1975 Seaver won his third NL Cy Young Award and was an NL All Star
• Tom led the  NL in wins (22) and in strikeouts (243)
• 1976 Highlights:
• Was a holdout during spring training but agreed to terms and became baseball's highest paid pitcher on April 5.
• Had a rough stretch in May, losing four straight starts. 
• Pitched two innings in the All Star Game and allowed a solo home run to Fred Lynn
• Had a record of 14-11 with a 2.59 ERA
• Led the NL with 235 strikeouts (his ninth straight 200-plus strikeout season)

1976 Topps Card of the Year (Round 1, Group 8)

• The cards that will move on from group 7 are Rick Manning, Ron Cey, Sal Bando, and Steve Garvey.
• No love for Rusty Staub in the last group --- that card received no votes.
• Here is the eighth and final group for the first round. Please vote for your favorite(s). The top four will move on to the next round

Steve Ontiveros #284

Stolen Base Leaders #197

Tito Fuentes #8

Tom Seaver #600

Ty Cobb Sporting News All Stars #346

Von Joshua #82

Willie Horton #320

World Series Champs #462

Tom Seaver - happy 66th birthday!

Mr. Seaver was one of my favorite players back in the 70s. Here are a few videos of Tom Terrific

Light n Lively yogurt commercial



Tom Seaver strikes out the first batter he faces in the 1972 season



Tom Seaver throws the last picth in Shea Stadium 2008

1976 Topps #600 - Tom Seaver

• Tom Seaver was one of my favorite players. Three posters of ballplayers were on my wall during this time -- Seaver, Rod Carew, and Pete Rose.
• A year-by-year entry of this legend's 21-year career would be quite long, so here are the highlights:
• National League Rookie of the Year in 1967
• Won three NL Cy Young Awards (1969, 1973, 1975)
• Won 311 games in his career
• Had 20 or more wins five times: 1969, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977
• Led the NL in victories three times (1969, 1975, 1981)
• Had a 2.86 career ERA and led the NL in ERA three times (1970, 1971, 1973)
• Had 3640 career strikeouts
• Led the NL in strikeouts in 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, and 1976
• Struck out over 200 batters in nine straight seasons (1968-1976), narrowly missed the 200 plateau in 1977 (196), and then struck out 226 in 1978.
• Postseason record:
• 1969 NLCS 1-0, 6.43 ERA in one start
• 1969 World Series 1-1, 3.00 ERA in two starts (pitched a complete-game 2-1 victory in the series-clinching game 5)
• 1973 NLCS 1-1, 1.62 ERA in two starts
• 1973 World Series 0-1, 2.40 ERA in two starts
• 1979 NLCS 0-0, 2.25 ERA in one start
• Was a 12-time All Star. All Star Game record:
• 1967 - pitched a scoreless 15th inning to earn the save
• 1968 - pitched two scoreless innings and struck out five batters
• 1969 - on the roster but did not pitch
• 1970 - started the game and pitched three scoreless innings
• 1971 - on the roster but did not pitch
• 1972 - on the roster but did not pitch
• 1973 - pitched a scoreless 8th inning
• 1975 - pitched on inning (the 6th) and got a blown save as he allowed a 3-run homer to Carl Yastrzemski
• 1976 - pitched two innings (4th and 5th) and allowed one run on a Fred Lynn solo homer
• 1977 - pitched the 6th and 7th innings and allowed three runs (two earned)
• 1978 - on the roster but did not pitch
• 1981 - pitched one inning (2nd) and allowed a run on a Ken Singleton solo home run
• Pitched for the New York Mets from 1967 until the middle of the 1977 season
• Was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for four players on June 15, 1977
• Traded back to the Mets after the 1982 season
• Pitched one season for the Mets (1983) but was left unprotected in the free agent compensation draft and was taken by the Chicago White Sox
• Pitched for the White Sox from 1984 until the middle of the 1986 season
• Won his 300th game on August 4, 1985 against the New York Yankees
• Traded to the Boston Red Sox for Steve Lyons on June 29, 1986
• Finished the 1986 season with the Red Sox but was left off of the post season roster due to a knee injury
• Attempted a comeback with the Mets in June 1987 but didn't pitch well in three minor league appearances and retired
• Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992 with the highest percentage of all time (98.84% - 425 of 430 ballots)
• Seaver is the only player in the Hall of Fame who is wearing a Mets cap
• Seaver has done a lot of broadcasting for NBC and for the Mets and Yankees since the end of his playing career
• Tom and his wife own a vineyard in California
• Baseball Digest articles:
• The New Robin Roberts - August 1967
• The Many Faces of Tom Seaver - June 1973
• Tom Seaver Still Thrives as Major League Winner - April 1982
• 300th Victory Added to the Tom Seaver Legend - November 1985
• Tom Seaver Picks His Ten Most Memorable Games - November 1988
• Liked to face: Rance Mulliniks (.000 in 16 AB); Joe Pepitone (.043 in 23 AB); Ken Singleton (.061 in 33 AB)
• Hated to face: Steve Ontiveros (.500 in 18 AB); Terry Puhl (.444 in 45 AB); Chris Cannnizzaro (.429 in 21 AB)

Footage of a very young Tom Seaver in his first major league game


Tom Seaver on The Baseball Bunch

1976 Topps #203 - NL Strikeout Leaders

• Tom Seaver led the NL in strikeouts five times. He set a record by striking out over 200 batters nine years in a row (1968-1976). Tom fell four strikeouts short of extending that streak in 1977. He struck out 3640 batters in his career (6th all-time).

• John Montefusco had his biggest strikeout season (215) in 1975. He never again struck out over 200 batters in a season.

• Andy Messersmith had three seasons of striking out 200 or more batters (1969, 1974, and 1975). Andy never led the league in strikeouts, but struck out 6 or more batters per nine innings in all but three of his 12 seasons.

1976 Topps #201 - NL ERA Leaders

• Randy Jones had the first of two straight huge pitching seasons in 1975. He led the NL in ERA and went from 8-22 in 1974 to 20-12 in 1975. He had a better year in 1976 and was the NL Cy Young Award winner, but arm troubles derailed a promising career.

• Andy Messersmith also had a great season in 1975 (20-6, 2.59). He was 19-14 in 1976, then signed a big contract with the Atlanta Braves (he was one of the first free agents). Andy had a pretty good year in 1977 then kind of fell off the face of the earth. "I wasn't prepared for the pressure that came down [after the Seitz ruling and his Braves deal]. I didn't know anything about it. I came out as the dirty dog. That was a real hard thing for me. I just wasn't ready for it."---Andy Messersmith, to the New York Times, after his career ended.

• Tom Seaver led the NL in ERA three times (1970, 1971, 1973). He had only one season with an ERA over 3.00 (1974, 3.20) from his rookie season in 1967 through the 1978 season.
  

1976 Topps #199 - NL Victory Leaders

• This card has seen better days. This must be one of my original cards that I got out of a pack in '76.

• I wonder if this would be successful as a subset -- make a card of each team's all-time top three in each major category (homers, RBI, victories, etc.). Do one of the categories each season (this year homers, next year RBI, etc.). I think it would be fun from a baseball history standpoint and it'd be a fun subset to collect.

• Tom Seaver led the NL in victories three times and won over 20 games five times. He won three NL Cy Young awards (1969, 1973, and 1975).

• Randy Jones led the NL in victories in 1976 and won 20 or more games twice (1975 and 1976). He won the NL Cy Young award in 1976.

• Andy Messersmith led the NL in victories once (1974). He won 20 or more games twice (1971 with the Angels and 1974).
  

1976 Topps #5 - Tom Seaver Record Breaker

Tom Seaver would strike out 235 batters in 1976, but that was the last season in his streak. He barely missed striking out 200 in 1977 (he whiffed 196) and then struck 0ut 226 batters in 1978. He would never again come close to striking out 200 in a season.

It looks like this record will be a hard one to break. It takes a rarely-seen combination of ability and durability.I looked at some other recent strikeout pitchers to see if anyone broke this record. I checked Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, and Roger Clemens. None of them came close to nine straight years of 200 or more strikeouts. Did I miss anyone?