The passing of ‘Fresno’s icon’: Hall of Famer Tom Seaver dies from dementia, COVID-19

The greatest baseball player ever to come from the Fresno area has died.

Tom Seaver — a Baseball Hall of Famer and one of the most famous people in Fresno history — passed away peacefully in his sleep Monday from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was 75.

“Fresno has had more than its share of legends, but no local star has ever shone as brightly as Tom Seaver,” Fresno Mayor Lee Brand said in a statement. “ ‘Tom Terrific’ left a giant mark on this community and on the game of baseball and he will forever be missed.”

A 12-time All-Star, Seaver captured three Cy Young Awards and 311 wins while registering 3,640 strikeouts with a 2.86 ERA during a career that spanned from 1967-1986.

Twelve of his Major League seasons were spent with the New York Mets, including with the 1969 “Miracle Mets” when Seaver went 25-7 during the regular season and helped transform a perennial losing franchise into World Series champs.

Seaver is considered the most dominant and prominent player in Mets history, and ranks sixth all-time among MLB’s strikeout leaders.

“He’s an icon of baseball,” Fresno City pitching coach Eric Solberg said. “He’s Fresno’s icon.

“He’s the most famous guy who’s come out of this place. He brings credibility to Fresno.”

Before he became big time

Long before Seaver starred in the Big Apple, he was a late bloomer of sorts in the Central Valley.

A 1962 graduate of Fresno High, Seaver joined the Marine Corps Reserves immediately after high school.

When he returned to the Valley by the fall of 1963, Seaver, in his own words, grew from “a 5-9, 165-pound junkballer” to a 6-foot-1, 190-pound power pitcher while suiting up for Fresno City College.

Seaver went 11-2 with a 1.58 ERA with the Rams in 1964, tossing a complete game in 10 of 13 starts and racking up 132 strikeouts to 25 walks in 114 innings.

That earned him a scholarship to USC.

“He was an extremely outstanding person and an extraordinarily good student,” former Fresno City baseball coach Len Bourdet said. “Very good athlete and an extremely rewarding teammate.”

In 1966, the Atlanta Braves drafted Seaver in the first round.

But it was the Mets who ended up with Seaver after MLB’s commissioner nixed Atlanta’s deal with the right-handed ace, which prompted a special draft lottery.

A year later, Seaver won the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

“Tom Seaver is an icon in so many different ways,” Fresno High baseball coach Jason Papi said. “He meant so much to us, and our kids looked up to him. We talked about him on a daily basis.

“It’s really a sad day for us. Hearing about this really broke my heart.”

‘Once-in-a-lifetime player’

Seaver went on to be inducted into Cooperstown in 1992 — named on 98.8 percent of ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, which was the highest voting percentage ever received at the time.

Bourdet recalled attending the Hall of Fame ceremony with a large group from Fresno to show their support.

“It was very rewarding for what he had done in his career in the Major League,” Bourdet said. “It was an exciting experience.”

Six years prior, Seaver was inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame and joined his father, Charles Seaver.

In June 2019, a prominent street in front of New York’s Citi Field was renamed Seaver Way. There also are plans to build a statue of Seaver just outside of the Mets’ ballpark.

“Tom was a once-in-a-lifetime player and will always be remembered as one of the greatest players in Mets history,” Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said then. “ Tom truly lived up to his nicknames of ‘Tom Terrific’ and ‘The Franchise.’“

Seaver retired from public life in March 2019 after his family revealed he had been diagnosed with dementia.

He’d last made an appearance in Fresno during October 2013 when the city of Fresno and Fresno High collaborated to dedicate Echo Avenue, located just outside of the campus, as Tom Seaver Lane.

“He always remembered where he came from,” longtime Fresno City sports publicist Woody Wilk said, “and I think that’s an important tribute to an individual who achieved greatness.”

Family members said Seaver died in his Napa Valley home near Calistoga.

“It’s such a sad day,” Papi said. “He’ll be forever remembered.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 11:42 PM.