George Thomas Saver is the full name of one of America’s professional baseball pitchers, but he is better known by his nickname, Tom. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, and Cincinnati Reds over a 20-year career. The game lasts 19 years, from 1967 to 1986.
With the Mets, he won the National League’s (NL) Rookie of the Year Award in 1967 and three NL Cy Young Awards as the league’s best pitcher. Tom Seaver, a 12-time All-Star, is the Mets’ all-time wins leader.
His quotes are truly inspirational and beneficial to everyone.
“If the Mets can win the World Series, the United States can get out of Vietnam.”― Tom Seaver
“In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics you get shortsighted; if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end.”― Tom Seaver
“There are only two places in the league – first place and no place.”― Tom Seaver
“The good rising fastball is the best pitch in baseball.”― Tom Seaver
“I’m a huge advocate of pitching. You have to have good pitching as the solid core, the foundation. It keeps you in every game.”― Tom Seaver
“My pitch count as a general rule was 135. And I knew how many pitches I had when I went to the mound for the last three innings.”― Tom Seaver
“There’s nothing wrong with pitch counts. But not when it spits out by a computer, and the computer does not look at an individual’s mechanics. And you can’t look at his genes. It should come from the individual and the pitching coach and the manager.”― Tom Seaver
“Once a year, I take my whole wine team down to see the Giants, and we meet the players. I’ve never seen anyone pitch like Lincecum that can throw the ball and get through the front leg. He has that stiff front leg.”― Tom Seaver
9th of 19 Tom Quotes
“THERE IS NO SET NUMERICAL VALUE YOU CAN PUT ON A PITCHER. THEY’RE ALL DIFFERENT.”― TOM SEAVER
“Imagine if these computer geeks who are running baseball now were allowed to run a war? They’d be telling our soldiers: ‘That’s enough. You’ve fired too many bullets from your rifle this week!’”― Tom Seaver
“What’s important is to get into the pitcher’s head: to know what he’s made of.”― Tom Seaver
“Take a look at all of them: Marichal, Jenkins, Spahn – what do you think made them successful? They conditioned their arms by pitching more, not less, starting from when they signed their first contract.”― Tom Seaver
“My job isn’t to strike guys out; it’s to get them out – sometimes by striking them out.”― Tom Seaver
“I would like to be a great artist. I would quit pitching if I could paint like Monet or Rousseau. But I can’t. What I can do is pitch, and I can do that very well.”― Tom Seaver
“It takes 20 victories for people to recognize you as a great pitcher.”― Tom Seaver
“The thing most people don’t understand is that pitching isn’t the same every time out.”― Tom Seaver
“Pitching is what you have best on the day you work, and if you can’t get your fastball over the plate, then maybe you can win with your curve.”― Tom Seaver
18th of 19 Tom Quotes
“BASICALLY, HITTERS FALL INTO A PATTERN, AND ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT THEY LIKE, YOU CAN SET THEM UP FOR THE PUTOUT WITH SOMETHING ELSE.”― TOM SEAVER
“I had 12 years under my belt of baseball at the amateur level before I got to the big leagues.”― Tom Seaver