I learned a lot about Tom Seaver while
researching “The Andy Warhol Triple Play”. My focus was Warhol but I
learned a lot about his subjects, one of which was Tom Seaver.
The more you learn about Seaver the
more interesting he becomes. He was more than a ballplayer, He was a
devoted family man, a vintner, and a connoisseur of the arts.
One of his many interests popped up recently when I saw the cartoon on the back of Tom Seaver’s 1974 Topps card.
1974 Topps #80 Tom Seaver (b-side)
Tom Enjoys Playing Bridge. Mildly
interesting… Then last night while re-reading my notes from the Warhol
Project I came across an enjoyable blog posting written by Phillip
Richter, a schoolmate of Tom and Nancy’s daughter Sarah. An excerpt
from the column read:
While walking and talking and tending to the vineyards,
Tom made the comment that pitching is like playing bridge. To be a
really successful pitcher you have to get inside the mind of the
batter. Is he having a good day? Will he wait for a fat pitch or just
aggressively strike at anything served to him? What
are his goals? How consistent a player is he? Your goal as a pitcher is
to control the outcome. Tom said that it was his job to control where
the ball was going to go should the batter connect with the ball and
make a hit. I know next to nothing about baseball
but Tom’s complex and astute thesis was logical and so well
articulated. It made all the sense in the world. I would never have seen
parallels between the game of bridge and the art of throwing a baseball
at high speed. Tom knows that I’m not a crazed baseball
fanatic but I have always had huge admiration and respect for his many
incredible accomplishments. Back in the day I was around for a lot of
his career highlights–like when he got his 300th win in 1985.
Tom Seaver just doesn’t play bridge,
he plays bridge the way he pitches or pitches the way he plays cards.
The article was written in 2016, Seaver would have been 71 years of age –
30 years removed from his final pitch, yet here he is making
parallels between two games he loves.
1974 Topps
1974 Topps #80 Tom Seaver
I have always loved this card, great action shot of an absolute legend - good use of the landscape format in the mainly portrait style 1974T set.
The card re-drew my attention earlier this summer as part of a Project2020 inspired activity spearheaded by @_gritz_ of Project 62. Gritz posted a randomish page of 9
noteworthy trading cards. Similar to Project2020 the assignment to the world of
amateur
artists was to redesign the card – Project2020 for the common folks.
One of the cards posted was the 1974T
Seaver. 1974 has the best -toons and I had to flip the card over. That
is where I spotted the comic. Once I saw it I knew that was the route I
was going:
Phungo Original: 1974T Tom Seaver
In creating my own Tom Seaver card I
kept the 1974T design – in a simplified format. The original comic is
more portrait – I have changed it to Landscape format which
necessitated moving the copy. I added a touch of color to the lines
– keeping the Mets 1974T flavors. My biggest remaining modification was
identifying the card being pitched by Seaver as the Ace of Diamonds –
which he truly is.
It was a fun card to do and I think of
Tom Seaver as a happy individual who was able to pass that joy on to
those around him, I hope this Phungo Original captures that vibe.
In Memoriam
Links to other folks that have Tom Seaver Memorial Postings:
1960s Baseball (1968T)
Cards that Never Were (1968T Seaver LHP w/ Bob Gibson LHP)
Starting Nine (41 Scans for #41)
Sources and Links
Andy Warhol: Tom Seaver
Phungo Tom Seaver HOF Index
Turtle Garage
@_Gritz_
Project 62
