Tom Seaver Stats

Tom Seaver was born on Friday, November 17, 1944, in Fresno, California. Seaver was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 13, 1967, with the New York Mets. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Tom Seaver baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"I would like to be a great artist. I would quit pitching if I could paint like Monet or Rousseau. But I can't. What I can do is pitch, and I can do that very well." - Tom Seaver (The Internet Movie Database, Tom Seaver Biography, Source) [Tom Seaver Quotes]

Tom Seaver

Tom 'The Franchise' Seaver Autograph on a 1982 Donruss Diamond Kings (#16)

Tom 'The Franchise' Seaver Autograph on a 1982 Donruss Diamond Kings (#16)

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Birth Name:   George Thomas Seaver
Nickname:   Boy Scout, The Franchise, Tom Terrific
Born On:   11-17-1944  (Scorpio)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Fresno, California
Year of Death Data Died On:   08-31-2020 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Calistoga, California
Cemetery:   Not Yet Determined
High School:   Fresno High School (Fresno, CA)
College:   Fresno City College & University of Southern California
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-01   Player Weight Chart Weight:   206
First Game:   04-13-1967 (Age 22)
Last Game:   09-19-1986
Draft:   1965 : 10th Round (190th) / Signing Bonus = $40,000

Tom Seaver

Tom Seaver Pitching Stats

1967 23 Mets 35 34 1 16 13 .552 2.76 18 2 0 251.0 1,029 224 77 85 19 78 6 170 5 5 0 -
1968 24 Mets 36 35 1 16 12 .571 2.20 14 5 1 277.2 1,088 224 68 73 15 48 5 205 8 8 1 -
1969 25 Mets 36 35 1 25 7 .781 2.21 18 5 0 273.1 1,089 202 67 75 24 82 9 208 8 7 1 -
1970 26 Mets 37 36 1 18 12 .600 2.82 19 2 0 290.2 1,173 230 91 103 21 83 8 283 6 4 0 -
1971 27 Mets 36 35 1 20 10 .667 1.76 21 4 0 286.1 1,103 210 56 61 18 61 2 289 5 4 1 -
1972 28 Mets 35 35 0 21 12 .636 2.92 13 3 0 262.0 1,060 215 85 92 23 77 2 249 8 5 0 0
1973 29 Mets 36 36 0 19 10 .655 2.08 18 3 0 290.0 1,147 219 67 74 23 64 5 251 5 4 0 0
1974 30 Mets 32 32 0 11 11 .500 3.20 12 5 0 236.0 956 199 84 89 19 75 10 201 4 3 2 0
1975 31 Mets 36 36 0 22 9 .710 2.38 15 5 0 280.1 1,115 217 74 81 11 88 6 243 7 4 1 0
1976 32 Mets 35 34 0 14 11 .560 2.59 13 5 0 271.0 1,079 211 78 83 14 77 9 235 12 4 0 -
1977 33 Mets 13 13 0 7 3 .700 3.00 5 3 0 96.0 390 79 32 33 7 28 3 72 3 0 1 0
1977 33 Reds 20 20 0 14 3 .824 2.34 14 4 0 165.1 641 120 43 45 12 38 3 124 4 0 0 0
1978 34 Reds 36 36 0 16 14 .533 2.88 8 1 0 259.2 1,075 218 83 97 26 89 11 226 6 0 1 0
1979 35 Reds 32 32 0 16 6 .727 3.14 9 5 0 215.0 868 187 75 85 16 61 6 131 4 0 0 0
1980 36 Reds 26 26 0 10 8 .556 3.64 5 1 0 168.0 692 140 68 74 24 59 3 101 4 1 0 0
1981 37 Reds 23 23 0 14 2 .875 2.54 6 1 0 166.1 671 120 47 51 10 66 8 87 5 3 0 0
1982 38 Reds 21 21 0 5 13 .278 5.50 0 0 0 111.1 501 136 68 75 14 44 4 62 3 3 0 0
1983 39 Mets 34 34 0 9 14 .391 3.55 5 2 0 231.0 962 201 91 104 18 86 5 135 10 4 0 0
1984 40 White Sox 34 33 1 15 11 .577 3.95 10 4 0 236.2 978 216 104 108 27 61 3 131 5 2 0 -
1985 41 White Sox 35 33 0 16 11 .593 3.17 6 1 0 238.2 993 223 84 103 22 69 6 134 10 8 0 -
1986 42 White Sox 12 12 0 2 6 .250 4.38 1 0 0 72.0 309 66 35 37 9 27 1 31 1 5 0 0
1986 42 Red Sox 16 16 0 5 7 .417 3.80 1 0 0 104.1 450 114 44 46 8 29 1 72 3 2 0 0
20 Years 656 647 6 311 205 .603 2.86 231 61 1 4,782.2 19,369 3,971 1,521 1,674 380 1,390 116 3,640 126 76 8 0

Tom Seaver

Tom Seaver Hitting Stats

1967 23 Mets 36 77 5 11 2 0 0 0 5 8 0 24 6 1 1 0 .143 .230 .169
1968 24 Mets 38 95 5 15 2 0 0 0 3 3 0 44 3 0 0 0 .158 .184 .179
1969 25 Mets 39 91 7 11 3 0 0 0 6 7 0 34 4 0 2 0 .121 .200 .154
1970 26 Mets 42 95 9 17 1 1 1 0 10 10 0 31 7 0 0 1 .179 .257 .242
1971 27 Mets 39 92 8 18 3 0 1 0 7 6 0 31 11 0 0 1 .196 .245 .261
1972 28 Mets 36 89 5 13 3 1 3 0 4 5 0 41 6 0 0 1 .146 .191 .303
1973 29 Mets 39 93 9 15 2 1 1 0 5 7 0 34 9 0 0 3 .161 .220 .237
1974 30 Mets 32 71 3 7 0 0 0 0 4 9 0 28 7 0 0 3 .099 .200 .099
1975 31 Mets 37 95 7 17 1 0 0 0 5 8 0 24 7 0 1 2 .179 .250 .189
1976 32 Mets 35 82 5 7 0 0 0 0 3 9 0 26 9 0 0 1 .085 .176 .085
1977 33 Mets 13 31 1 5 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 12 2 1 0 0 .161 .206 .161
1977 33 Reds 20 55 10 12 1 0 3 0 5 2 0 21 11 0 0 2 .218 .246 .400
1978 34 Reds 36 74 5 9 1 0 0 0 4 8 0 31 13 0 0 0 .122 .207 .135
1979 35 Reds 33 76 3 12 3 0 2 0 8 1 0 29 4 0 0 2 .158 .169 .276
1980 36 Reds 26 46 5 6 3 0 0 0 3 7 0 17 7 0 0 0 .130 .245 .196
1981 37 Reds 23 55 3 11 1 0 1 0 6 8 0 16 4 1 0 2 .200 .297 .273
1982 38 Reds 22 34 3 6 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 16 5 0 0 2 .176 .222 .235
1983 39 Mets 34 64 6 10 0 2 0 0 4 6 0 26 6 1 0 2 .156 .225 .219
1984 40 White Sox 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1985 41 White Sox 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1986 42 White Sox 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1986 42 Red Sox 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
20 Years 677 1,315 99 202 28 5 12 0 86 108 0 485 121 4 4 22 .154 .219 .210

Tom Seaver

Tom Seaver Fielding Stats

1967 Mets P 35 34 753 56 1.6 55 17 38 1 3 n/a n/a n/a .982 1.97
1968 Mets P 36 35 833 70 1.9 69 21 48 1 4 n/a n/a n/a .986 2.24
1969 Mets P 36 35 820 68 1.9 66 18 48 2 7 n/a n/a n/a .971 2.17
1970 Mets P 37 36 872 68 1.8 65 19 46 3 3 n/a n/a n/a .956 2.01
1971 Mets P 36 35 859 56 1.6 55 17 38 1 3 n/a n/a n/a .982 1.73
1972 Mets P 35 35 786 60 1.7 57 17 40 3 3 n/a n/a n/a .950 1.96
1973 Mets P 36 36 870 66 1.8 61 26 35 5 1 n/a n/a n/a .924 1.89
1974 Mets P 32 32 708 52 1.6 51 9 42 1 7 n/a n/a n/a .981 1.94
1975 Mets P 36 36 841 68 1.9 64 21 43 4 6 n/a n/a n/a .941 2.05
1976 Mets P 35 34 813 54 1.5 53 12 41 1 3 n/a n/a n/a .981 1.76
1977 Mets P 13 13 288 24 1.8 23 6 17 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .958 2.16
1977 Reds P 20 20 496 23 1.2 23 7 16 0 3 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.25
1978 Reds P 36 36 779 49 1.4 43 15 28 6 2 n/a n/a n/a .878 1.49
1979 Reds P 32 32 645 50 1.6 48 22 26 2 2 n/a n/a n/a .960 2.01
1980 Reds P 26 26 504 42 1.6 42 16 26 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.25
1981 Reds P 23 23 499 31 1.3 30 8 22 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .968 1.62
1982 Reds P 21 21 334 20 1.0 18 7 11 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .900 1.46
1983 Mets P 34 34 693 54 1.6 50 22 28 4 0 n/a n/a n/a .926 1.95
1984 White Sox P 34 33 710 51 1.5 51 11 40 0 2 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.94
1985 White Sox P 35 33 716 65 1.9 63 20 43 2 2 n/a n/a n/a .969 2.38
1986 White Sox P 12 12 216 11 0.9 11 4 7 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.38
1986 Red Sox P 16 16 313 24 1.5 22 13 9 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .917 1.90
P Totals 656 647 14,348 1,062 1.6 1,020 328 692 42 54 n/a n/a n/a .960 1.92
20 Years 656 647 14,348 1,062 1.6 1,020 328 692 42 54 n/a n/a n/a .960 1.92

Tom Seaver

Tom Seaver Miscellaneous Stats

1967 Mets 2 0 1.000 0 1 n/a 0.0 3.2 15.4 2.18 6.10 2.80
1968 Mets 0 0 .000 0 2 n/a 0.0 2.2 31.7 4.27 6.64 1.56
1969 Mets 1 0 1.000 0 3 n/a 0.0 2.7 15.2 2.54 6.85 2.70
1970 Mets 0 0 .000 1 4 n/a 95.0 3.1 9.5 3.41 8.76 2.57
1971 Mets 0 0 .000 1 2 n/a 92.0 3.0 13.1 4.74 9.08 1.92
1972 Mets 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 29.7 2.2 22.3 3.23 8.55 2.65
1973 Mets 1 0 1.000 0 3 n/a 93.0 2.7 18.6 3.92 7.79 1.99
1974 Mets 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.5 17.8 2.68 7.67 2.86
1975 Mets 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 0.0 4.0 19.0 2.76 7.80 2.83
1976 Mets 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 3.2 27.3 3.05 7.80 2.56
1977 Mets 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.6 7.8 2.57 6.75 2.63
1977 Reds 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 18.3 2.6 11.0 3.26 6.75 2.07
1978 Reds 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.4 18.5 2.54 7.83 3.08
1979 Reds 0 0 .000 0 1 n/a 38.0 2.6 9.5 2.15 5.48 2.55
1980 Reds 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.7 15.3 1.71 5.41 3.16
1981 Reds 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 55.0 3.4 9.2 1.32 4.71 3.57
1982 Reds 0 0 .000 1 0 n/a 0.0 2.1 0.0 1.41 5.01 3.56
1983 Mets 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.5 16.0 1.57 5.26 3.35
1984 White Sox 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.15 4.98 2.32
1985 White Sox 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.94 5.05 2.60
1986 White Sox 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.15 3.88 3.38
1986 Red Sox 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.48 6.21 2.50
20 Years 4 0 1.000 3 18 0 109.6 2.7 15.3 2.62 6.85 2.62

Tom Seaver

Tom Seaver Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1967 New York Mets 41 $10,000.00 Stats -
1968 New York Mets 41 $28,000.00 Stats -
1969 New York Mets 41 $40,000.00 Stats Stats
1970 New York Mets 41 $80,000.00 Stats -
1971 New York Mets 41 $90,000.00 Stats -
1972 New York Mets 41 $120,000.00 Stats -
1973 New York Mets 41 $130,000.00 Stats Stats
1974 New York Mets 41 $173,000.00 - -
1975 New York Mets 41 $173,000.00 Stats -
1976 New York Mets 41 $225,000.00 Stats -
1977 New York Mets 41 $225,000.00 Stats -
1977 Cincinnati Reds 41 "     "     Stats -
1978 Cincinnati Reds 41 $375,000.00 Stats -
1979 Cincinnati Reds 41 $375,000.00 - -
1980 Cincinnati Reds 41 $375,000.00 - -
1981 Cincinnati Reds 41 $375,000.00 Stats -
1982 Cincinnati Reds 41 $375,000.00 - -
1983 New York Mets 41 $850,000.00 - -
1984 Chicago White Sox 41 $1,131,357.00 - -
1985 Chicago White Sox 41 $1,136,262.00 - -
1986 Chicago White Sox 41 $1,132,652.00 - -
1986 Boston Red Sox 41 "     "     - -

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George Thomas Seaver was a Major League Baseball player who pitched for the New York Mets (1967-1977, 1983), Cincinnati Reds (1977-1982), Chicago White Sox (1984-1986), and Boston Red Sox (1986). Did you know that Seaver was once the youngest (27) Major League player to reach the $100,000 salary plateau when he signed a $120,000 contract in 1972? Join Baseball Almanac as we take a closer look at The Franchise, the twirler that Bert Blyleven, Steve Carlton, Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Jim Palmer, and Nolan Ryan, all said was the best pitcher of their generation:

2 - Tom Seaver is one of only two pitchers in Major League history who is a member of the 300 Wins Club, the 3,000 Strikeouts Club and a career ERA less than 3.00 — the other pitcher, Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.

5 - Tom Seaver pitched twenty-seven 3-hitters, ten 2-hitters, five 1-hitters and a no-hitter. All five of his one-hitters were in a New York Mets uniform, a team that didn't have a franchise no-no until Johan Santana tossed his gem on June 1, 2012. The Mets one-hitters were on July 9, 1969 (broken up by Jim Qualls), May 15, 1970 (broken up by Mike Compton), September 26, 1971 (broken up by Vic Davalillo), July 4, 1972 (broken up by Leron Lee), and April 17, 1977 (broken up by Steve Ontiveros).

8 - Tom Seaver struck out eight hitters when he made his Major League debut on April 13, 1967, a New York Mets team record for a debut. Bill Denehy matched that total three days later, on April 16, 1967, and each pitcher held the record until July 26, 2012, when Matt Harvey made his debut and struck out 11 batters in his first game.

10 - Tom Seaver struck out ten consecutive batters on April 22, 1970, the Major League record for consecutive strikeouts in a game. After his career ended, Seaver shared his opinion of the Top Ten Baseball Events and Top Ten Pitchers ever - two legendary lists we preserved when we started Baseball Almanac in 1999.

41 - Tom Seaver had his #41 retired by the New York Mets on June 24, 1988, and he is the only player from the team to receive that honor. The Mets have retired #14, for manager Gil Hodges, #37, for manager Casey Stengel, and #42, for Jackie Robinson (who had his number retired by every Major League team).

98.84 - Tom Seaver was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on January 7, 1992, receiving the highest-ever percentage of votes with 98.84%, since broken by Ken Griffey, Jr. in 2016 (99.30%), then by Mariano Rivera in 2019 (100%). Seaver's name appeared on 425 of the 430 ballots, higher than any player in Hall of Fame History (Baseball Hall of Fame BBWAA Voting Percentages) up to that point. Three of the five ballots that had omitted Seaver were actually blank, cast by baseball writers who were protesting the Hall of Fame's decision to make Pete Rose ineligible for consideration. The fourth ballot was sent by a writer who was recovering from surgery and said he did not notice Seaver's name. The fifth and final, was actually a "no" vote, the writer later said he would not vote for any player in their first year of eligibility.

200 - Tom Seaver struck out 200+ batters in a season nine times with Mets, once with the Reds, and finished with ten - the National League record for most seasons with 200+ strikeouts in a career.

311 - Tom Seaver finished his career with 311 wins, number eighteen on the Top 1,000 All-Time Wins Leaders chart. He joined the 300 Wins Club on August 4, 1985, a 4-1 complete game, six-hitter, seven strikeout performance versus the New York Yankees (in front of 54,032 fans, many of them cheering for him in the final innings).

3,640 - Tom Seaver finished his career with 3,640 strikeouts, number six on the Top 1,000 All-Time Strikeout Leaders chart. He joined the 3,000 Strikeouts Club on April 18, 1981, courtesy of future Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez.

Tom Seaver

Tom Seaver Pitching Motion | Photo by The New York Post | Photoshop by Baseball Almanac

Tom Seaver was the first New York Mets pitcher to win a Cy Young Award (1969). The first to win it twice (1973) and three times as well (1975). He was also their first Rookie of the Year (1967), their first ERA Champion (1970, 1971 & 1973), their first Strikeout Champion (1970, 1971, 1973, 1975 & 1976) and when Mets faced off against the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series, Seaver started Game 1 - the first World Series game for the New York Mets. The Mets traded Seaver in what was referred to as "the Midnight Massacre" to the Reds on June 15, 1977, for pitcher Pat Zachry, minor league outfielder Steve Henderson, infielder Doug Flynn, and minor league outfielder Dan Norman. The following year, on June 16, 1978, Seaver threw a no-hitter:

Tom Seaver No-Hitter Ticket Stub

Tom Seaver No-Hitter Ticket Stub | June 16, 1978 | Baseball Almanac Collection

Tom Seaver No-Hitter (Box Score: June 16, 1978)

Three times before in his career, Tom Seaver had gone into the ninth inning with a no-hitter, only to have to settle for a one-hitter. But it was different on Friday, June 16 when the hurler known as "Tom Terrific" faced the St. Louis Cardinals at Riverfront Stadium.

The Cards were in sixth place in the NL East and had John Denny on the mound. Seaver, in his first full season with the Cincinnati Reds, who were second in the NL West, had a 7-4 record and had won six games in a row as he took the hill before a crowd of 38,216.

The 33-year-old hurler had waited years for a no-hitter. This was to be his night. The five-time 20-game winner was in complete command all the way as he shut down the weak-hitting Cardinals without a hit.

Seaver, who had once struck out 19 batters in a game, fanned only three and walked three. Mixing a fastball and sinker, he induced the Cards to hit into 15 outs on the ground.

Seaver started with three ground outs in the first, getting Lou Brock on a bouncer to first, Garry Templeton on a roller to short, and George Hendrick on a skimmer to second.

A fourth straight ground out by Ted Simmons to short began the second. But then Seaver got into trouble. He walked Keith Hernandez, who stole second as Jerry Morales struck out, and went to third as catcher Don Werner's throw flew into center field. Another pass was issued to Ken Reitz, but Seaver escaped the game by getting Mike Phillips on a grounder to second.

Seaver retired 19 batters in a row, experiencing little difficulty the rest of the way. Several fine defensive plays came to his aid.

In the fourth, Joe Morgan ranged into the hole between first and second to flag down Hernandez' hard grounder. Hernandez drilled a line drive off Seaver's glove in the seventh. The ball caromed toward short where Dave Concepcion raced in, made a swift pickup and threw the batter out at first.

Ray Knight replaced Pete Rose at third base as the Reds made a defensive adjustment to start the eighth. Manager Sparky Anderson's move was timely as Morales hit a chopper down the line leading off the inning. Knight gloved the ball, and his throw to first just beat Morales. Reitz then grounded out to Knight and Phillips flew out to left.

Seaver began the ninth by walking pinch-hitter Jerry Mumphrey to end his string of consecutive outs. But he got Brock on a fly to George Foster in left. Templeton hit into a force-out at second on a slow bouncer to Concepcion. Hendrick ended the affair with a routine grounder to Dan Driessen at first.

The Reds had broken the game open in the fifth, getting three runs on singles by Cesar Geronimo and Werner, a two-run double by Rose, and an RBI double by Morgan. Driessen homered to right in the sixth for Cincinnati's final run.

Seaver went on to post a 16-14 record for the season. Overall he won in double figures 17 times.

Tom Seaver Hall of Fame Plaque

Tom Seaver | National Baseball Hall of Fame Plaque | Class of 1992 (HOF)

On April 5, 1983, Tom Seaver tied Walter Johnson's Major League record of 14 Opening Day starting assignments, shutting out the Philadelphia Phillies for six innings in a 2-0 Mets win. Tom Seaver made two additional Opening Day starts with the Chicago White Sox in 1985 and 1986 for a Major League record 16 Opening Day starting assignments. His National League mark of 14 still stands to this day and has only been tied, by Steve Carlton. The Walter Johnson mark of 14 still stands to this day as well and has also only been tied, by Jack Morris.