Tom Seaver passed away. Thanks to Covid19.

[Toronto Passions]

And that really is sad. The master technician of “drop and drive” for pitchers. Backbone of the Miracle Mets. A classic late inning power pitcher that revolutionized preserving your arm, and using your legs.

Sad day indeed.

Philip

 

[Insidious Von]

I remember Tom Seaver, he was both a horse and a cerebral pitcher. Even though it's before my time I remember he won 27 games for the Miracle Mets but lost the first game in the WS.

Shame indeed, I read his autobiography, excellent reading.

 

[shack]

Tom Terrific.

 

[The Oracle]

I remember listening to Dave Van Horne and Russ Taylor calling the early Expos games.

It's funny as bad as the Expos were they had a certain charm to them.

When they played against the Mets at Shea stadium with Seaver on the mound you knew it was going to be a strenuous outing for the underdogs.

He was so methodical but at the same time over powering at the same time. Truly a maestro on that desolate mound 60ft 6 inches from home plate.

I will always remember him as a Met and so will the bewildered fans in N.Y. who were outraged when he was dealt away.

Lewey body dementia is still undefeated......

 

[Darts]

I remember listening to Dave Van Horne and Russ Taylor calling the early Expos games.

It's funny as bad as the Expos were they had a certain charm to them.

When I was a kid, I actually saw Seaver live against the Epos in one game in old Jarry Park. I also saw his wife Nancy after the game. For the longest time he held the record for most HOF votes. R.I.P.

BTW: Dave van Horne (81) partnered with Boy of Summer Duke Snider as broadcasters for 14 years.

 

[Toronto Passions]

I wish there was a way to have these power pitchers, especially from the 70s and prior throw against today’s radar guns. Even guys from the 90s. We didn’t get a modern understanding of how hard they threw. I remember talking about old vs new radar guns in this section many years ago. Way before the Fastball documentary came out, which actually begins to shed some light on the differences in measurement of speed based on different eras. The differences between the speed of the ball when it leaves the hand, compared to the speed of the ball when it crosses the plate. For all we know, JR Richard and Sandy Koufax were averaging at 105 mph by today’s standards. Hell even a 1986 Roger Clemens 98mph could have been 105mph by today’s standards.

Just from the naked eye, I feel like even guys like Rob Dibble and maybe even Duane Ward threw harder than most of these so called 98s today. Everyone was even flipping out about Mark Wholers 96mph in 1993.

Philip

 

[Darts]

I wish there was a way to have these power pitchers, especially from the 70s and prior throw against today’s radar guns. Even guys from the 90s. We didn’t get a modern understanding of how hard they threw. I remember talking about old vs new radar guns in this section many years ago.

Question: Is it possible to measure the speed of a pitch using video? Using modern technology one would think we can measure how long it took a pitch from the time it left the pitcher's hand until it lands in the catcher's mitt.

 

[bluecolt]

I remember Tom Seaver, he was both a horse and a cerebral pitcher. Even though it's before my time I remember he won 27 games for the Miracle Mets but lost the first game in the WS.

Shame indeed, I read his autobiography, excellent reading.

He won a career high of 25 games in 1969 and won the Cy Young Award. He lost game 1 and won game 4 in the 1969 World Series. He was also 1-1 in the 1973 World Series.

As an aside, Ed Kranepool was my cousin's next door neighbour in the New York area in the 60s and 70s. When Ed and Goose Goossen were 20 years old rookies for the Mets in 1965, the immortal Casey Stengel remarked, "In 10 years, Ed Kranepool's got a chance to be a star, Now that fella, Greg Goossen, in 10 years he's got a chance to be 30." Kranepool never became a star but was a solid player for some 18 years. Greg Goossen played for 37 various teams over 8 years as a utility player. He died at 65 in 2011.

 

[Insidious Von]

My mistake bluecolt, I got Seaver confused with Steve Carlton who won 27 games.

 

[bluecolt]

I wish there was a way to have these power pitchers, especially from the 70s and prior throw against today’s radar guns. Even guys from the 90s. We didn’t get a modern understanding of how hard they threw. I remember talking about old vs new radar guns in this section many years ago. Way before the Fastball documentary came out, which actually begins to shed some light on the differences in measurement of speed based on different eras. The differences between the speed of the ball when it leaves the hand, compared to the speed of the ball when it crosses the plate. For all we know, JR Richard and Sandy Koufax were averaging at 105 mph by today’s standards. Hell even a 1986 Roger Clemens 98mph could have been 105mph by today’s standards.

Just from the naked eye, I feel like even guys like Rob Dibble and maybe even Duane Ward threw harder than most of these so called 98s today. Everyone was even flipping out about Mark Wholers 96mph in 1993.

Philip

It wouldn't matter how hard Seaver, Carlton, Koufax and Drysdale threw. In the sixties until about 1975, the goal of the starting pitcher was a complete game. Hence, good pitchers paced themselves to last nine innings or about 150 pitches. Seaver had 231 career complete games, Carlton 249, Koufax 137 and Drysdale 167.

 

[Toronto Passions]

It wouldn't matter how hard Seaver, Carlton, Koufax and Drysdale threw. In the sixties until about 1975, the goal of the starting pitcher was a complete game. Hence, good pitchers paced themselves to last nine innings or about 150 pitches. Seaver had 231 career complete games, Carlton 249, Koufax 137 and Drysdale 167.

I don’t know if I would agree to say it didn’t matter how hard they threw. There was lots of hype around the speed of guys like Bob Feller etc etc. But I absolutely agree that the starter was expected to finish. It was his game. Even tougher to imagine this mentality they had with a four-man rotation. Wow.

Philip

 

[Darts]

Even tougher to imagine this mentality they had with a four-man rotation.

Highly unlikely we will see a 30 game winner again or 300 career wins since the average starting pitcher only starts 32-33 games a year.

 

[K Douglas]

Would be interesting to know how he contracted covid-19 as he's basically been home bound since early 2019. My guess is it was the dementia that ultimately finished him off.

RIP Tom Terrific