Remembering Tom Seaver and his Canadian connections

By Kevin Glew

Cooperstowners in Canada

Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver has passed away at the age of 75.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame shared the news of his death in a press release last night.

The Hall’s release indicates that Seaver died “peacefully in his sleep of complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19” on Monday.

Born in Fresno, Calif., Seaver enjoyed a 20-season big league career from 1967 to 1986, capturing National League Rookie of the Year honours with the New York Mets in 1967. Two years later, he snagged his first of three Cy Young Awards and helped the underdog “Miracle Mets” to an improbable World Series win.

Thanks to pinpoint control with his fastball and slider, Seaver was selected to 12 All-Star games, registered 311 wins (18th all-time), tossed 61 shutouts (seventh all-time) and notched 3,640 strikeouts (sixth all-time) during his two decades in the majors in which he also pitched for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox.

For his efforts, he was a near unanimous selection to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Seaver was listed on 98.8 per cent of writers’ ballots, which was a record at the time for the highest percentage ever received by a candidate.

Tributes for Seaver poured in from the baseball community after the announcement of his death, including one from fellow Hall of Famer and pitching contemporary Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.).

Very saddened to hear of the passing of fellow Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. Many great memories over the years. My thoughts and prayers are with the Seaver family. pic.twitter.com/h5BIlcGGZq

— Fergie Jenkins (@fergieajenkins) September 3, 2020

Not surprisingly, with such a strong resume, Seaver had some memorable games in Montreal and Toronto during his big league career.

Here’s a rundown of some of his performances against the Expos, the Blue Jays, as well as some of his other Canadian connections:

– Seaver started his first major league game on April 13, 1967 at Shea Stadium against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Facing a lineup that boasted future Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Bill Mazeroski, the 22-year-old Seaver allowed six hits and two earned runs in 5-1/3 innings and left the game when it was tied 2-2. Mets right-hander Chuck Estrada took over for Seaver and during his 2-2/3 innings of work, the Mets scored a run to take the lead. Toronto native and Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Ron Taylor pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn a save and preserve the Mets’ 3-2 win.

– In 49 games (48 starts) against the Expos, Seaver was 22-12 with a 2.65 ERA. He fanned 279 Expos in 346-1/3 innings. But the stocky right-hander experienced some hard luck at Jarry Park – his record there was sub .500 (5-6), despite a strong 2.65 ERA. In 12 starts at Olympic Stadium, Seaver was 5-3 with a 3.51 ERA.

– Seaver didn’t pitch in Toronto until near the end of his career, but the legendary hurler lost all three games he started at Exhibition Stadium and posted a 3.63 ERA. In fact, the final big league game that Seaver pitched was at The Ex on September 19, 1986. Matched up against Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Stieb, Seaver, then with the Red Sox, permitted three runs in four innings before a pulled calf muscle forced him to leave the game. The Blue Jays won 6-4.

– Seaver belted 12 home runs during his MLB career and the first two came against the Expos. The first was a solo homer in the fourth inning off lefty Rich Nye in a Mets’ 7-1 win at Shea Stadium on July 9, 1970. The second was a solo blast in the eighth inning off right-hander Bill Stoneman at Jarry Park in a Mets’ 2-1 victory on June 24, 1971. In both of those contests, Seaver pitched a complete game.

– Few Chicago Cubs fans will ever forget the “black cat” game on September 9, 1969. The Cubs were three games ahead of the Mets in the standings heading into that showdown at Shea Stadium. In the first inning, a black cat emerged from the stands and walked around Cubs third baseman Ron Santo in the on-deck circle and then allegedly hissed at Cubs manager Leo Durocher. Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.) was on the mound for the Cubs that day pitching against Seaver. The black cat was a bad omen for the Cubs. The normally reliable Jenkins proceeded to allow seven runs in seven innings, while Seaver tossed a complete game in the Mets’ 7-1 victory. It was the Cubs’ sixth loss in a row and they would also drop five of their next six games and eventually be overtaken by the Mets in the standings.

– Speaking of Jenkins and Seaver, Seaver finished second to Jenkins in the 1971 National League Cy Young Award voting. Jenkins posted a 24-13 record and a 2.77 ERA for the Cubs and pitched 30 complete games. However, some have argued that Seaver should’ve won the award because of his 1.76 ERA, though he had fewer wins (20) and complete games (21) than Jenkins.

– Jenkins and Seaver were teammates on three National League All-Star teams (1967, 1971 and 1972).

– By my count, Seaver had three Canadian teammates during his career (hometown, team, years played with Seaver): Ron Taylor (Toronto, Ont., New York Mets, 1967 to 1971), Brian Ostrosser (Hamilton, Ont., New York Mets, 1973) and Sheldon Burnside (Toronto, Ont., Cincinnati Reds, 1980). It should be noted that Burnside was born in South Bend, Ind., but was raised in Toronto.

– If there was one player that “owned” Seaver over the course of his career, it was Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Terry Puhl. The Melville, Sask., native, who played 15 seasons in the big leagues with the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals from 1977 to 1991, was 20-for-45 against “Tom Terrific” for a .444 batting average. Puhl also slugged his first major league home run off Seaver on April 6, 1978 (Opening Day) in Cincinnati. Batting leadoff for the Astros, Puhl socked the third pitch from Seaver over the right field wall at Riverfront Stadium.

– The only other Canadian big leaguers to walk to the plate against Seaver were pitchers. Swift Current, Sask., native Reggie Cleveland registered two singles in four at bats against Seaver, while Jenkins was 1-for-8 – his only hit, however, was a solo home run on April 25, 1969 at Shea Stadium.