“He made his MLB debut for the Mets in 1967 and quickly became the cornerstone of the franchise, leading New York and the “Miracle Mets” to a World Series Title in 1969.”
When it was announced Wednesday night at 8 P.M. that former New York Met and Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver had passed away at the age of 75, reaction and tributes came pouring in across the baseball world.
The MLB Network broke into its live coverage of Wednesday Night Baseball to announce the news and quickly developed a tribute video to commemorate “Tom Terrific”, which debuted on Quick Pitch and it was replayed many times through the overnight hours.
“He was the marquee name of that generation,” another Mets’ legend David Wright said.
Seaver did indeed define a generation. He made his MLB debut for the Mets in 1967 and quickly became the cornerstone of the franchise, leading New York and the “Miracle Mets” to a World Series Title in 1969. That was only the beginning for Seaver, however, as throughout his 20 year career, he won 311 games, three Cy Young awards and recorded over 3,000 strikeouts. He was a near unanimous Hall-of-Fame selection in 1992.
“I can remember thinking at 15 (when I saw Seaver pitch) that now we have our Mays our Mantle, our DiMaggio,” Mets broadcaster Howie Rose said in the tribute video. He also paid tribute on Twitter.
This is impossible to process. I’ve been asked to talk about Tom Seaver ever since the news broke and I feel like I’m talking in circles. I’m numb. There simply are no words. I was privileged to know him as a boyhood idol, colleague and friend. Cherish the memories. Godspeed.
Rose was far from the only local New York media member to react to the news.
“It (Seaver’s death) affected me more than I thought it would,” WFAN’s Bob Heussler said over the airways. “The Mets were the lovable laughing stock of baseball from 1962 through 1967 when Tom Seaver came on board. He was the personification of what the Mets represented from lovable laughingstock to Word Series champion in 1969.”
"He was the personification of what the @Mets represented when they went from laughing stocks to, not only respectability, but, winning a World Championship against the odds." -Bob Heussler on the passing of his favorite athlete ever, Tom Seaver.@ZachGelb@WFAN660#RIPTomSeaverpic.twitter.com/CTSkGxI2bA
In addition to print and online publications, The New York Post also released a special edition of the Amazin’ but True podcast, commemorating Seaver on Thursday morning featuring Rose and serval of Seaver’s Mets’ teammates, including Ed Kranepool and Art Shamsky. All three guests shared stories of Seaver both on and off the field.
During the podcast, Shamsky describes Seaver being an icon in New York sports history, the memories of their visit in 2017, how talented a pitcher Seaver was, what it was like fielding behind him and then facing him as an opposing hitter. Kranepool focused more on Seaver the person instead of the player, saying he was a class act.
Many nationally prominent media figures shared their thoughts on Seaver as well, including, Bob Costas.
“I was blessed to not only interview Tom but to share a broadcast booth with him as well,” Costas said on the MLB Network. “He was so well spoken and able to express the particulars of his craft. I remember Vin Scully came down with laryngitis in the 1989 NLCS between the Giants and Cubs and I got to do a game with Tom. As for interviews, we shared a memorable one in Cooperstown a few years ago. There are people who are great at what they do but not great at explaining it. Tom was both. Jerry Seinfeld can talk about a joke, deconstructing it to the syllable. Tom Seaver could do the same thing with pitches.”
Fox Sports radio’s Jason Smith grew up idolizing Seaver and became so emotional he could not adequately talk about Seaver on his show, so he took to Twitter instead.
I feel like I can't even speak correctly right now when I'm talking about Tom Seaver on the show. I am just all over the place.
Smith later shares a personal story on the social media platform.
Tom Seaver gets traded at midnight of the trade deadline to the Reds. My dad wakes me up the next morning and says "I don't know how to tell you this…" I was so mad I ran and ruined all my Seaver baseball cards by crossing off METS and writing REDS on them in red ink.
ESPN’s Buster Olney, who is best known for breaking down and analyzing stats, honored Seaver by detailing the impressive numbers Seaver garnered throughout his Hall-of Fame career.
Tom Seaver Had 200 or more Ks in 9 straight seasons, in an era in which strikeouts were tougher to get. Finished top 5 in Cy voting nine times, winning three times. Averaged 17 complete games annually over an 11-year span. Only 5 of 430 voters did not include him on HOF ballot.
ESPN aired Tuesday night’s New York Rangers and Washington Capitals game. DisneyXD and Disney Channel aired an alternate broadcast that included players being 3D animated to resemble the cast of Disney Channel’s popular cartoon Big City Greens. It turned into a ratings win for the networks.
The alternate broadcast featured players animated in real time to mimic what was happening on the Madison Square Garden ice. Players were equipped with special chips in the padding to aid the animation, and special pucks were used to ensure a smooth transition from video to computer-animated graphics.
An average of 589,000 viewers tuned into the game on ESPN. Meanwhile, nearly 175,000 watched the broadcast between Disney Channel and DisneyXD.
The figure for ESPN represents its largest NHL broadcast since a November 1st broadcast featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins.
The combined total for the broadcast — 765,000 — outdrew the World Baseball Classic broadcasts but did not top the NCAA Tournament’s First Four round that was broadcast on truTV.
This week, it was announced that Greg Gumbel will no longer be a play-by-play announcer for the NFL on CBS after working on CBS’s NFL coverage every year since 1998. Gumbel has had an illustrious career and he takes pride in the fact that one thing has never happened to him.
Gumbel was a guest on the Tell Me A Story I Don’t Knowpodcast with George Ofman (Part 2 from an interview back in September) and he told Ofman that while he has never been fired before, but he doesn’t think broadcasters should be embarrassed when they get fired because of what the business is.
“It’s the nature of the business. I honestly think I’ve been extremely fortunate in that I’ve never been fired in a business that is known for firings. Being fired in this business is no shame, no embarrassment because it’s a subjective business. Because this guy at this network likes my work, it doesn’t mean that this guy at that network does. It’s extremely subjective and if you can buy that and understand it the way it is, then it shouldn’t bother you at all.
“It’s never happened to me. If it had, it would not have surprised me. I worked for some people who didn’t like me, I’ve worked for some people I didn’t like. It’s a strange business, there’s no doubt.”
Gumbel has been the host of CBS’s NCAA Tournament coverage for the last 25 years and he knows it’s a job that he is very grateful to have.
“I know there are people who would give their right arm to be sitting there next to Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis on Selection Sunday or sitting next to Kellogg, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley when the tournament begins to talk about what we’ve just seen or what we are going to see. I am never, ever going to take for granted the fact that I have been very fortunate to be able to do that.”
One thing Gumbel tries to avoid whenever he is on air is the mispronunciation of someone’s name because he knows how it feels to have his name distorted accidentally by some people.
“Pronunciations are important to me. There’s been a lifetime of people who may not completely mispronounce my name, but distorting it a little bit from time to time. I never want to do that to an athlete. If I ever mispronounce an athlete’s name, I hear it from his family, I hear it from the school or the team and I apologize for it as soon as I can. I don’t think that is something light or should be taken for granted.”
Toward the end of the interview, Gumbel was asked by Ofman when he will know it will be time to end his career.
“Other people have given it more thought than I have. I think when that time comes around, it will hit me over the head more than I will think about it. There are people who ask me why I still do what I do. The very bottom line is I love it, I enjoy it.”
Ricky Keeler is a reporter for BSM with a primary focus on sports media podcasts and national personalities. He is also an active podcaster with an interest in pursuing a career in sports media. You can find him on Twitter @Rickinator555 or reach him by email at RickJKeeler@gmail.com.
Diamond Sports Group Misses Arizona Diamondbacks Rights Payment
It is believed that the missed rights payment by Bally Sports Arizona triggers a clause in the contract that reverts the television rights back to the Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball.
Last week, Diamond Sports Group — operator of the Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks — claimed it had paid every rights fee it was contractually obligated, except for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
At the time, the company said it had a grace period until it needed to make a payment. That payment was due by Thursday, March 16th at 11:59 PM. That time has come and gone, and the company failed to deliver its fee.
It is believed that the missed rights payment by Bally Sports Arizona triggers a clause in the contract that reverts the television rights back to the Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball.
The Diamondbacks are not the only team affected by the situation. Bally Sports — which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week — has also reportedly entered a grace period with the San Diego Padres. According to a report from Sports Business Journal, that grace period ends on March 30th, baseball’s Opening Day.
Previous reporting claims that contract is one the network hopes to get out from under. The company loses a reported $20 million per season on its television deal with the Padres. The Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians are the other two baseball franchises the network holds the rights to that it hopes to terminate deals for.
