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Steve Serby does [url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/06152008/sports/mets/serbys_sunday_qa_with____115569.htm?page=0]Q&A[/url] with Tom Seaver. Seaver sounds like Seaver, which is always a bit more off-center than I'm prepared for.
]Q: Were you heartened by angry Mets fan reaction to your June 15, 1977 blockbuster trade to the Reds?
A: I don't know, that's so long ago in a sense. All I remember I was just so cotton pickin' glad to get away from (then-Daily News columnist) Dick Young and (Mets chairman) M. Donald Grant.
Q: Young?
A: Not a nice man.
Q: Why?
A: Attacking my wife (Nancy, in print) and saying things that weren't true.
Q: Grant?
A: Had a real plantation mentality. Asked me: "Who do you think you are joining the Greenwich Country Club?"
Q: Tell me what you see when Cleon Jones catches the last out of the 1969 World Series.
A: A man down on his knees and a dream come true for the child that lives in all of us. It happens to other athletes, other individuals. And all of a sudden, it's your world championship. One of my favorite photographs is after all that celebration, Gary Gentry and I are back on the mound - it's littered with grass and there's nobody in the stadium - and we went back on the mound (in uniform), and we (each) have a cigar in our hand. . . . 'Cause that's where it all started.
Q: Sum up the personality of the '69 Mets.
A: Oxymoron - educated naivete.
Q: Word associations . . . Jerry Grote?
A: A pitcher's dream behind the plate.
Q: Bud Harrelson?
A: Same thing at shortstop.
Q: Did you help pull Buddy off Pete Rose during their '73 playoff brawl?
A: No. I was scratching the back of my head. . . . I'm on the bench, Pete's up, and I know Koozie (Jerry Koosman) is gonna hit him, and I know it's gonna be a fight, right? Here we go boys, strap 'em on, let's go. Boom, he hits him. Pete peels off and goes to first base. Well, I said a couple of uncomplimentary words - under my breath - about Pete. And I go to the clubhouse to get a cup of coffee. I open the clubhouse door and there's Murph (Bob Murphy) or Lindsay (Nelson) on the radio going, "And a fight breaks out at second base."
I will ask you the question: Who got hurt more than anybody in the fight, in that scene? Me. Have you ever walked from the clubhouse to the dugout? So I open the door, I hear this on the radio, I run back, we have those concrete steps right, going down? Guess who slipped on the concrete steps going down trying to get to the fight (chuckles)? And if you watch this closely, all this commotion's going on, then all of a sudden here comes this one player in this blue coat (chuckles) with my number covered up trying to get to the fight.
Q: Gil Hodges?
A: At that point in time in my career, the one perfect person for me.
Q: Because?
A: Discipline, focus, concentration . . . the pro's pro, and (he) did not accept anything less than that.
Q: The young Nolan Ryan?
A: Frustrated me to death.
Q: Why?
A: As much talent as anybody's ever had throwing a baseball . . . he had some issues with somebody imposing on his family, I'll leave it at that. He had a very attractive wife (Ruth), and I think that bothered him . . . he couldn't deal with that in New York. I never got the full story from Nolan, but I think that was all part of it.
Q: A fan who was badgering Ruth?
A: I don't know if it was badgering or what, it was just somebody was in a place they shouldn't have been. I think that bothered him, that the safety of his wife potentially was compromised. We were all young . . . you hear all these horror stories. I think that rightfully bothered him.
Q: Koosman?
A: Big, strong German, and if hadn't gotten hurt, he'd have been in the Hall of Fame.
Q: When the fading Willie Mays became your teammate?
A: You're a kid in Fresno (Calif.), and you grow up and you go to San Francisco Giant games with your father who's in the raisin business, right? And all of a sudden Willie Mays is coming to me with (questions about the opposing) lineup . . . he's going, "Where do you want me to play him? Where do you want me to play him?" What's wrong with this picture?
Q: Describe your mound temperament.
A: Total control and disciplined.
Q: Have you ever watched tapes of Jimmy Qualls spoiling your 1969 perfect game in the ninth inning?
A: No I have not, no. I don't have to go back, I can see it (chuckles).
Q: Tell me what you see.
A: Warming up in the bullpen I knew that it was just (snaps fingers) boom, boom, boom. And the only guy I didn't know in the lineup was Jimmy Qualls and he hit the ball hard the first time. It was an out, but I didn't see an out. As a hitter, you can see an out when they walk up there . . . you can see outs - I can get you out here, I can get you out there, and get you out there and get you out there, whatever. I never saw an out with him.
Q: How deflating was that?
A: Pitch a one-hit shutout.
Q: Your 19-strikeout game against the Padres?
A: Conditions were perfect . . . I was throwing nothing but strikes, all on the black and right on the knees. Boom, boom, boom.
Q: Does it get any better than that?
A: It gets a helluva lot better - and you don't realize this 'til later, 'til you're down the road, and you beat somebody 4-3 . . . then you had to work your rear end off, both physically and mentally. When you walk away, you go, "Now that was a piece of art right there." It's not called throwing, it's called pitching. That's the fun.
Q: Did the young Roger Clemens pick your brain with the Red Sox in 1986?
A: A little bit.
Q: Are you troubled by Clemens' steroid controversy?
A: For the whole game. Is it true, is it not true, how much of it is true, etc.? Did it go on, did it not go on? Why did those in charge let it go on? Did it bring fans back into the game after there was a strike. And the home runs . . . was it monetarily driven? I don't know.
Q: You were at the far end of the visiting dugout when Mookie's grounder got by Buckner.
A: I was a bit in disbelief that Mac (Red Sox manager John McNamara) didn't take Buckner out. But he was such a nice man, warm-hearted man, I think he wanted to let Buck stay in the game.
Q: The young Doc Gooden?
A: You go, "Now there's Cooperstown right there."
Q: Kiner's Korner?
A: Ralph has been a jewel, as my mother would say, a jewel for years and years and years. The game's supposed to be fun for the fan, and that's what he did, he made it fun for them.
Q: Were you ever tempted to borrow one of Lindsay Nelson's sport jackets?
A: (Smiles) No, no . . . I had enough bad ones myself.
Q: Bob Murphy?
A: Murph was like this ball of energy.
Q: Boyhood idols?
A: Robin Roberts; Henry Aaron.
Q: Was Aaron the toughest hitter you ever faced?
A: No, (Willie) McCovey . . . and probably (Willie) Stargell. My true heroes when I was coming out of USC, Aaron was one, (Sandy) Koufax was the other. I was a year-and-a-half removed from USC playing for the Mets after a year in Jacksonville, and I go to the (1967) All-Star Game and my locker's here, and who do you think was right there? Henry Aaron. Scared to death.
Q: Shea's last season?
A: I keep saying it - let me push the plunger, you know? It's time to turn the page. There are great memories there (but) I will not be sad to see the stadium go at all. It's time to . . . light the fuse.
Q: Reggie Jackson once said of you: "Blind people come to the park just to hear him pitch."
A: Reggie is very eloquent. I asked him, "Reggie, how many blind people do you know for crying out loud go to baseball games?"
Q: What would they have heard?
A: (Chuckles) The subtle wafting of wind . . . in the middle of the infield.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: "To Kill A Mockingbird."
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Gregory Peck.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Lamb chops with asparagus and some other vegetable.
Q: What red wine would you pick to go with it?
A: GTS, which stands for George Thomas Seaver (smiles). Diamond Mountain, California cabernet.
Q: Your new venture?
A: At the north end of Napa Valley, I have three acres of cabernet and I'm just finishing going through the first distribution of our '05 vintage. I employ two people, a vineyard manager and a winemaker, and I am the smallest client either one of them has. I enjoy the vineyard aspect of it, I enjoy the farming aspect of it . . . one of the things you learn, if you're lucky enough in your professional career to win a world championship - it is the journey, not the destination. What I'm doing now is fascinating.
Q: And when can I get your GTS?
A: (Smiles) As soon as I get the check. |
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