In our mind’s eye, the enduring image of Tom Seaver is one of the hard-throwing right hander in the uniform of the New York Mets, for whom Seaver won 198 games during his career.
While fans vividly remember Seaver’s glory days with the Mets, particularly his wonderful 1969 season (25-7, 2.21 and the Miracle Mets World Series win over Baltimore), the reality is that Seaver finished his career in 1986 with another World Series team, the Boston Red Sox; the same Red Sox team that lost the ’86 Series to the Mets when Bill Buckner committed his memorable error on Mookie Wilson’s grounder.
Coming off a 16-11, 3.17 season in 1985, Seaver began his final season with the Chicago White Sox, who he joined in 1984.
After splitting his first four starts in April, including a 3-1 win and a 2-1 loss to Boston and a tough 2-1 win over the Brewers in Milwaukee, things began to slide for the great right hander. In May, he failed to record a decision in three starts. In June, Seaver lost four in a row and his ERA climbed to 4.38.
On June 29, Seaver, who wanted to be closer to his family and home in Connecticut, was traded by the White Sox to Boston for OF Steve (Psycho) Lyons.
In Seaver’s debut with Boston, he beat Toronto 9-7, despite giving up four runs in seven innings. He then topped Seattle 7-3, giving up only four hits and an unearned run in seven innings. Beginning in mid-July, however, Seaver dropped four straight decisions before rebounding with a 6-1, five-hit win over Detroit, in what proved to be the last complete game win in his career.
Tom Terrific won his next two starts, beating Kansas City 5-2 and just missing a complete game to beat Minnesota 3-1 on August 18, a victory turned out to be his last win. As the Red Sox headed down the stretch, Seaver lost his final two decisions, the last one a 6-4 loss to Toronto on Sept. 19, which lasting four innings, while giving up three runs.
The wear and tear of his career caught up with him as the ’86 season ground to an end. Seaver was discovered to have torn cartilage in his right knee, an injury that required arthroscopic surgery. As a result, he was not on the active list for the ’86 World Series and missed an opportunity to pitch against the team for whom he experienced his greatest seasons, the New York Mets.
In his final campaign, Seaver was 2-6, 4.38 with Chicago and 5-7, 3.80 with Boston. Combined Seaver finished 7-13 with an uncharacteristic 4.03 ERA, only the second time in his career his ERA exceeded 4.00.
What does Seaver’s 1986 card look like?
| Split | W | L | ERA | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | HBP | WP | BF | WHIP | SO9 | SO/W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 Totals | 7 | 13 | 4.03 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 176.1 | 180 | 83 | 79 | 17 | 56 | 103 | 7 | 4 | 759 | 1.338 | 5.3 | 1.84 |
Sadly, Seaver, who entered the Hall of Fame in 1992 wearing a Mets cap on his plaque, was rated a D pitcher and 5 in the Master Game. He was given a fatigue factor of Q3. He fanned 103 batters in 176 innings, which earned him a Y strikeout rating on his ‘86 card. He walked 56 batters, earning him a Z.
Seaver did not bat in 1986 (i.e. the DH), but he was surprisingly awarded a 5 at 66, even though he had not hit a home run since 1981, in the midst of a six-year stint with Cincinnati. In the previous two seasons, he had batted only twice, without a hit.
His fielding rating (2) was based on his overall fielding performance (he committed two errors in 1986). Reflective of his 41 years in 1986, Seaver’s speed was a (S) on the basic game card and rated with S3 speed in the Master Game ratings.
Despite his decline at the end, Seaver will always be recalled as one of the great pitchers of all time, particularly his 12 seasons with the Mets, whom he led to a World Series win that will always be recalled as one of the great World Series upsets of all time.
I’d like to offer a special thanks to Rod Caborn for his guest contribution to Final Card Friday. I’m on vacation and will return with a new post next week…Kevin Weber
1 Baseball-Reference.com, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/seaveto01.shtml
2 Los Angeles Times, United Press International, June 30, 1986, “White Sox Grant Seaver’s Wish with Trade to Boston for Lyons”
3 Dave Anderson, The New York Times, October 19, 1986, “The World Series ’86: Sports of the Times; Seaver’s Twist of Fate”
4 https://baseballhall.org/explorer?name=Seaver&team
When I played 1986 (C+D), Tom went 10-10 in 26 games and 138.2 innings. So, same number of decisions, just 2 fewer games, but quite a few less innings….I guess I went to the hook easily after watching Sparky manage my Tigers during that era. ;-)
Good job Rod, look forward to your next pinch hit !!
Sadly, Tom Terrific has had some heath issues in his retirement. He has a vineyard in California that produces some wine — Seaver Family Vineyards. Wondering if I can buy a bottle? Not to drink — I don’t drink — but it would be cool t have.