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George Thomas Seaver (born November 17, 1944) is a former right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the major leagues in 1967 and retired in 1987. He played for four different teams in his career, but was primarily associated with his first: the New York Mets. more...

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Nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", Seaver had 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts and a 2.86 ERA during a 20-year career. In 1992 he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

He won the National League Rookie of the Year Award and three Cy Young Awards as the league's best pitcher. As the Mets' all-time leader in wins, Seaver is considered one of the the greatest players in club history, as well as one of the best starting pitchers in the history of baseball.

Early life & development

Seaver was born in Modesto, California to Betty Lee Cline and Charles Henry Seaver. As a high school pitcher, Seaver compensated for his lack of size and strength by developing great control on the mound. Despite being an All-City basketball player, he hoped to play baseball in college. He joined the United States Marine Corps Reserves in June 28, 1962. He served with AIRFMFPAC 29 Palms, California through July 1963. After six months of active duty in the Reserves, Seaver enrolled at Fresno City College. He was much stronger and threw with greater velocity, but still had the same fine control of his pitches. In anticipation of the following season, he was being recruited to pitch for the University of Southern California by legendary Trojan coach Rod Dedeaux. Unsure as to whether Tom was worthy of a scholarship, he was sent to pitch for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks in 1964. After a stellar season -- in which he pitched and won a game in the national tournament with a grand slam -- he was accepted for a USC scholarship. As a sophomore, Seaver posted a 10-2 record, and "in June 1965, he was drafted by the L.A. Dodgers. When Seaver asked for $70,000, however, the Dodgers passed." In 1966, he signed a contract with the Atlanta Braves, who had drafted him number one. However, the contract was voided by Baseball Commissioner William Eckert because his college team had played two exhibition games (although Seaver hadn't played). Seaver intended, then, to finish the college season, but because he had signed a pro-contract, the NCAA ruled him ineligble. After Seaver's father complained to Eckert about the unfairness of the situation, and threatened with a lawsuit, Eckert ruled that other teams could match the Braves' offer. The Mets were subsequently awarded his signing rights in a lottery drawing among the three teams (Philadelphia and Cleveland being the two others) that were willing to match the Braves' terms.

Read more at Wikipedia.org