Ron Darling, SNY.tv
Happy Earth Day. Fifty years young, and I hope the next 50 brings us a safer, cleaner planet.
But, it's also the anniversary of Tom Seaver striking out the last 10 Padres on his way to a record-setting afternoon.
Here are my two favorite Seaver stories...
I was a September call-up in 1983. Tom invited me over to his house in Connecticut to have dinner. He was doing some gardening when I got there and instructed me to wait in his study/library for a bit. All of his Cy Youngs were there, as well as pictures and framed magazine covers. In the corner of the room there was a dresser with the drawers partly ajar. Each drawer was teeming with baseballs, some dirtier than the others. All of them had writing on them, but I was too afraid to touch Tom's personal stuff. He called in that he was ready and off to dinner we went.
After a glass of wine or two, I mustered up the nerve to ask him about the dresser stuffed with used baseballs. His answer, "Oh, those are the shutouts." I didn't ask any more questions that night.
When I got to Oakland in 1991, Tony LaRussa was my manager and Dave Duncan was the pitching coach. Dunc told me a story about his time with Tom in Chicago. Guys were on second and third with two men out when Tom loaded the bases with a walk. Dunc went out to ask Tom if he was gassed or did he have enough left to get out of the inning. Tom assured him that he was fine and he semi-intentionally walked the previous batter to get to the batter in the box. Dunc went back to the bench and watched Seaver throw the first two pitches over the batter's head. On the 2-0 count, a well-placed changeup got Tom and the White Sox out of the inning.
After telling Tom he was done for the night, Dunc also said to Tom that he was a little nervous after he missed so poorly with the first two pitches. Seaver let him know that he missed with the first two offerings on purpose so he could get the batter out with his changeup.
If you are a fan of pitching, 19 strikeouts is the most impressive, but getting out of an inning with pitching intelligence is impressive as well.
I know it has been some tough years for The Franchise, but I know many of us think of him every day. Be well, my friend.
Stay healthy, be kind to each other and PEACE.
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