YEAR TEAM G IP W L SO BB CG ShO ERA 1967 Mets 35 251 16 13 170 78 18 2 2.75 1968 Mets 36 278 16 12 205 48 14 5 2.20 1969 Mets 36 273 25 7 208 82 18 5 2.21 1970 Mets 37 291 18 12 283 83 19 2 2.81 1971 Mets 36 286 20 10 289 61 21 4 1.76 1972 Mets 35 262 21 12 249 77 13 3 2.92 1973 Mets 36 290 19 10 251 64 18 4 2.08 1974 Mets 32 236 11 11 201 75 12 5 3.20 1975 Mets 36 280 22 9 243 88 15 5 2.38 1976 Mets 35 271 14 11 235 77 13 5 2.59 1977 Mets 13 96 7 3 72 28 5 3 3.00 1977 Reds 20 165 14 3 124 38 14 4 2.35 1977 total 33 261 21 6 196 66 19 7 2.58 1978 Reds 36 260 16 14 226 89 8 1 2.87 1979 Reds 32 215 16 6 131 61 9 5 3.14 1980 Reds 26 168 10 8 101 59 5 1 3.64 1981 Reds 23 166 14 2 87 66 6 1 2.55 1982 Reds 21 111.1 5 13 62 44 0 0 5.50 1983 Mets 34 231 9 14 135 86 5 2 3.55 1984 Chisox 34 236.2 15 11 131 61 10 4 3.95 1985 Chisox 35 238.2 16 11 134 69 6 1 3.17 1986 Chisox 12 72 2 6 31 27 1 0 4.38 1986 Red Sox 16 104.1 5 7 72 29 1 0 3.80 20 seasons 656 4,782 311 205 3,640 1,390 231 61 2.86
Five times he won 20, often with an anemic ballclub... Led the '69 Mets to the World Championship, put the Mets on the map, for that matter... 5 strikeout titles, 3 ERA titles, 61 career shutouts... the list goes on and on, but suffice it to say, where Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson left off, Tom Seaver carried on. Of his contemporaries, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, and Jim Palmer (Hall of Famers all) were close, and yet Seaver was clearly the best of his era. Overpowering and dominating, this man was a true classic. An artist. With a capital K!
And I had the firsthand pleasure of following his career from the early "phenom" years with the Mets to the twilight years with the White Sox and Red Sox. I was blessed with a seat behind home plate in the summer of '84 when Seaver, in his Fenway Park debut (as a member of the White Sox), baffled the Bosox with bullshit, including three eephus floaters that had me in stitches. This man was brilliant!
