Tag Archives: Tom Seaver

In today’s Daily News, Adam Rubin is reporting that Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Nolan Ryan will be at Citi Field for the 1969 World Championship reunion on August 22.

A charity event will be held in the Caesars Club prior to the game.

For more information, check out Rubin’s article.

…i am thrilled that Ryan will be joining the others for the festivities…it seems that the Mets have so rarely mentioned him as part of that championship despite playing an integral role in that postseason, and there is no better time for his original team to celebrate his career…

Tagged Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver |

In an article for Newsday, Barbara Barker gets all-time great Tom Seaver’s thoughts on how he will feel when Shea Stadium is torn down after this season.

Seaver, as quoted by Barker:

“I said this before, and got my rear end in a little bit of hot water. It’s just a physical presence to me. Now the physical is just going to move across the street.”

“I get sentimental about the people. When I’m here, I see the spot where Gil Hodges used to sit. I look to see where Tug McGraw used to sit. That’s what I see. It’s the people who occupied those spaces that are important to me.”

Actually, not to be a stickler, but it’s moving next door.

Also, it is noted in the Bergen Record that Seaver was at Shea yesterday to honor longtime Mets employee James Plummer, and said the following:

“You can’t take this the wrong way. I am not a big fan of the stadium. And it’s strictly an architectural observation.”

I’m sure some people will take that the wrong way, but I agree with Tom. I too won’t greatly miss the structure of Shea itself, but it’s the sentimentality of the old ballpark that I will be sad about. It’s where I saw my first baseball game; where I spent many Sundays; and just all the great memories from being there, usually in the Mezzanine or higher, that I will miss.

I’m also disappointed that I wasn’t around to see “The Franchise” throw for those Miracle Mets, but that’s another story.

Tagged Regis Courtemanche, Shea Stadium, Tom Seaver |

Yesterday, the Mets announced that Mike Piazza and Tom Seaver will be among several of the team’s former players who are expected to be in attendance on Sept. 28, when the Mets play their final regular-season game in Shea.

This is great news, because, frankly, I’m sick and tired of the Yankees having a monopoly on Tradition in New York City.

The thing is, if the Mets are going to welcome people like Seaver and Piazza, and Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry, I hope they also invite people like Gregg Jefferies, Doc Gooden, Wally Backman and Todd Hundley.

I mean, if it’s a night about honoring the stadium’s on-field past, then it would be unfortunate to ignore certain people for things that they may have done off-field, which ended up putting them in bad standing with the team’s owners.

Fact is, as a kid, Backman’s on-field presence and style was an inspiration to me; Gooden was a God; I had a Hundley jersey, and paid admission to specifically see him play; and I emulated Jefferies’s swing.

These guys, among many others, though not as prominent as Seaver and Piazza, are still a huge part of why I root for the Mets today – and I hope they are not ignored.

Tagged Mike Piazza, Todd Hundley, Tom Seaver, Wally Backman |