Tom Seaver 1944-2020
Tom Seaver 1944-2020
Tom Terrific
September 2, 2020
Number 41: Ne Plus Ultra
The rumor back then was that Tom Seaver never wanted to come to Chicago. But he did.
When Seaver signed with the White Sox in 1984 he was already a baseball giant, and his addition to the strong White Sox staff that helped the South Siders make the playoffs in 1983 was meant to put the Sox over the top in ’84.
We all know that didn’t happen.
But Seaver was damn good, winning 33 games for the Sox in ’84, ’85 and part of ’86 before being shipped to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Steve Lyons who was never in Seaver’s galaxy, but was a capable—and fun—player.
One of Seaver’s finest moments with the White Sox was a game he didn’t even pitch in. It was Saturday, April 7, 1984 and the Sox hosted the Tigers at old Comiskey Park on NBC’s Game of the Week. This is how we remember it: NBC wanted that game because it was supposed to be Seaver’s American League debut, back when such things carried weight more than a decade prior to interleague play. But the White Sox did not trot out Seaver that day, instead giving the ball to Floyd Bannister who faced Jack Morris and Morris promptly no-hit the White Sox.
Why is this a fine moment? Because some of us were there and while it’s certainly no fun to see your team lose, it is special to say you saw a no-hitter, especially thrown by a titan like Morris who helped the Tigers win it all that year and would later go on to help the Twins do the same.
But Jack Morris was never Tom Seaver.
When Seaver would pitch and Carlton Fisk would catch for him it was like a baseball museum in moving color at 35th and Shields. Two future Hall of Famers. Old School. Some nine-inning games would last nearly four hours.
Seaver, though, is best remembered (by most who remember) as a New York Met, the team he helped create a miracle with in 1969. But a more fond White Sox memory of #41 was watching him go back to New York in 1985 and beat the Yankees for his 300th win, a milestone that seems almost otherworldly by today’s baseball metrics.
Do you remember Sport magazine? It was Sports Illustrated’s less successful rival. We remember Seaver gracing its cover while still a Met in 1976. He was dressed like a painter: palette in one hand, his thumb raised on the other, looking at a canvas unseen by the viewer. The caption read, “Tom Seaver & The Art of Pitching.”
Tom Seaver: artist, miracle worker. A man worth watching. And remembering. --TK
Wednesday, September 2, 2020