Tom Seaver made growing up a Mets fan in the late 1960's and 1970's a great experience. No matter how they were doing in the standings, Mets fans knew a future Hall of Famer was wearing a Mets uniform. We got used to our ace striking out over 200 batters each season. In the era before you had a pitcher for each of the last three innings. Tom Terrific could pitch 9 or 10 shutout innings and still be strong enough to pitch more. Mets teams Seaver pitched for didn't score a lot of runs. When the Mets won the pennant in 1973 I still remember baseball fans saying strong pitching will beat strong hitting. Ironically, some of Tom Seaver's greatest moments came while not wearing a Mets uniform. On June 15th in 1977 he was traded to the Cincinati Reds. A year later he pitched his only no hitter. Seaver returned to the Mets in 1983 but was left unprotected in the 1984 compensation draft. In 1984 he was on the Chicago White Sox. While pitching for Chicago at Yankee Stadium he won his 300th game. If you're a younger baseball fan watching highlights of Tom Seaver on the news today take a look at his legs. He always said the key to his great pitching was strong legs. My fondest memory of Tom Seaver happened in game 1 of the 1973 championship series. It was a game he lost 2 to 1 after a walk off Johnny Bench home run in the bottom of the 9th inning. Seaver pitched his heart out. Mets fans cried as Seaver walked off the mound with his head down. Later on in the locker room Seaver told reporters, his team mates and Mets fans: "I know they finished with a better record than us or anybody else. But in a short series, where all you have to do is win 3 games anything can decide it." The Mets did win those three games and I learned a great life lesson. Never let one set back get you down. No matter how many people saw it or how painful it was. You can't win every game and sometimes even our biggest heroes fail. But if you give it you best every time. You will have no regrets. Seaver's other passion was wine. After his life in baseball, he enjoyed tending to his vineyards in California. He was also a U.S. Marine. Seaver died from dementia and complications from Covid-19.