Happy Birthday, Tom Seaver, Mitch Williams

Also known by Mets fans as The Franchise, Tom Seaver turns 66 today. This is one of the “heroes” of my youth and an education that regardless of your perceived value, an athlete is basically a commodity, to be bought, sold, traded, discarded (although that term seems a bit harsh). After expressing dissatisfaction with the Mets front office in the mid 1970s, Seaver was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in what came to be called “the midnight massacre” that presaged a decade of horrible play by the New York team.

It kind of reminds me of what Derek Jeter is going through right now. Harvey Araton recently wrote about the free agent’s impending dealings in The New York Times, referring to a question put by an owner, “Doesn’t loyalty work both ways?” (paraphrasing here). The question is, should the Yankees show loyalty to their Captain by rewarding him with a long-term, high-cost contract, despite him being on the down-side of an illustrious career? Or should the 36-year-old Jeter take a classy route and agree to a smaller package to stay with the only team he’s known? Or will both sides stand firm at the risk of Jeter moving to a new locker room in 2011?

Anyway, back to Seaver. He went on to throw a no-hitter for the Reds, win his 300th game for the White Sox (against the Yankees, no less), and was elected into the Hall of Fame by the highest vote percentage ever (98.8%; who would not have voted for him?).

As the Mets’ first superstar, Seaver was the subject for dozens of books — from biographies, to instructionals, to “scouting reports” — for readers of all ages, including:

The Perfect Game : Tom Seaver and the Mets, by Seaver and Dick Schaap
Seaver, by Gene Schorr
How I Would Pitch to Babe Ruth Seaver Vs. The Sluggers, ostensibly by Seaver
Beanball: Murder at the World Series, a novel (!) by Seaver and Herb Resnicow
The Art of Pitching

Also celebrating a birthday today, Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams, the prototypical “scary” reliever who was a lock to give their manager and fans agita. For all his notoriety, I was kind of surprised to see that he “only” saved 192 games over an 11-season career. His last three seasons, spent with the Astros, Angels, and Royals, were truly a wash, so it really boils down to less than eight years. Williams is currently an analyst for the MLB Network.

His contribution to baseball literature: Straight Talk from Wild Thing, written with Darrell Berger.