I’m currently reading a book by sportswriter Steve Travers entitled “Tom Seaver:
The Last Icon”. Obviously I haven’t finished it: I’m only halfway through, but I
still feel compelled to write a review of it.
Tom Seaver is my sports idol, more important to me than my favorite Yankee,
Graig Nettles, and even my Jewish homeboy, Sandy Koufax.
I have always been impressed by Seaver’s intelligence, articulateness, knowledge
of pitching and baseball, in general, and of, course, his skills as a pitcher.
To this day, I aspire to be like him in various aspects of my life, even though
I’m not a ballplayer (in Little League I used to imitate his windup, but I
didn’t have the arm strength to blow hitters away!)
In any case, in this particular book, the reader learns that Tom Seaver, though
he has led a charmed life (handsome, charming, good with the ladies in his
youth, and married to his beautiful wife, Nancy, for God know how long) was
hardly a shoo-in to be a Hall of Fame baseball player. Though Seaver has loved
baseball since his youth, he did not impress himself or baseball scouts with his
abilities, but his toughness, determination, work ethic, stint in the Marines
and spurt of physical growth in his college years helped Seaver increase his
strength and skills, which made him one of the most dominant and consistent
pitchers to ever play the game.
Seaver is also identified as a leader. His brilliance on the mound and his
willingness to push his fellow teammates to become less lackadaisical and more
perfectionist, helped turn the sad sack New York Mets from loveable losers into
an “Amazin’” franchise.
In the book, Travers reveals how Seaver and his fellow Mets pitcher, Jerry
Koosman used to try to outdo each other in order to raise the level of their
individual play: who could secure the most strikeouts, give up the fewest runs
or hits, etc.…This competitive intensity affected all the Mets players and
combined with the Mets famous good luck, helped win the Mets the World Series in
1969.
The lesson of this book is that if you maintain your drive and determination,
you have the potential to create great opportunities for yourself in sports and
in life, and combined with good fortune, you may just achieve spectacular
things.
I miss George Thomas “Tom Terrific” Seaver. He’s still an inspiration to me,
even though I have had to develop idols in other facets of life like Karl Marx,
Ernest Hemingway, John Lennon and Martin Luther King, Jr.
In fact, I now aspire to be the Tom Seaver of political activism.
Craig R. Bayer, 5/17/16
