This post is part of a media project called SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage. Pick a number, and consider the list of athletes attached to it. Who wore it best? Or, what’s the most compelling story linked to it? Any person, place or thing is in play with Southern California connections. Star power, transformational achievement, longevity, notoriety and quirkiness all factor in. Whatever leads to a lively discussion and interpretation.
The most obvious choices for No. 37:
Donnie Moore: California Angels
Lester Hayes: Los Angeles Raiders
Ron Artest/Metta World Peace: Los Angeles Lakers
The not-so-obvious choices for No. 37:
Kermit Johnson, UCLA football
Bobby Castillo: Los Angeles Dodgers
Ron Washington: Los Angeles Angels manager
Tom Seaver: USC baseball
Ken McBride: Los Angeles Angels
The most interesting story for No. 37:
Tom Seaver: USC baseball pitcher (1965)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Twentynine Palms, Los Angeles (USC), Manhattan Beach
Reference books on the subject:
“Tom Seaver: A Terrific Live,” by Bill Madden, 2020
“Tom Seaver and Me,” by Pat Jordan, 2020
“Baseball Is My Life,” by Tom Seaver with Steve Jacobson, 1973
Tom Seaver was a stellar bridge player. And bridge can be a tricky game.
The trick to this card game is to gather the fewest the number of tricks bid by the partnership of a four-person table. The rules seem simple, but mastering the strategy and complexity takes time.
Intelligence and patience are rewarded.
During his time as a USC student — a pre-denistry major, because he sensed he might need a fallback career — Seaver sometimes would find himself with a group of friends at the popular 901 Club on Jefferson Blvd., famous for its hamburgers and beer. The 9-0 as it’s been called since the late 1940s.
Seaver was bridge building his career as a deep thinker.
In the abridged version of how Seaver slithered his way from high school to college to a pro baseball career, a simple path was laid out for him to cross from USC to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ stellar starting rotation of the 1960s.
Instead, there was a toll to pay, and the Dodgers balked. So Seaver walked.
A fantastic 2020 book by acclaimed author and former minor leaguer Pat Jordan revealed how deep a thinker Seaver was in baseball and in life. When it came to his MLB future, Seaver wasn’t bluffing on contract demands. His poker face worked. Because of that, both the Dodges and USC lost out and the Baseball Hall of Fame gained one of its most popular inductees.
The start of the Vietnam War in 1962 got Seaver wondering about his future. He wasn’t keen on being drafted for the military out of Fresno High, where he just finished his senior baseball season with a modest 6-5 record, made the Fresno Bee All-City team, but had no real direction to go next. No pro offers in this pre-draft era. No college interest.
Seaver’s idea was to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in 1962 and ’63, with bootcamp taking place at Twentynine Palms. That’s where he would realize the extra weight and strength he gained during training built him up and gave him the ability to throw a more effective fastball and slider.
One freshman season at Fresno City College and an 11-2 record were enough to draw scholarship interest from USC, the perennial NCAA title team under coach Rod Dedeaux (see SoCal Sports History 101 bio for No. 1). Dedeaux called Seaver the “phee-nom from San Joaquin.”
The Dodgers’ interests were also piqued. But not more than $2,000 interested. Maybe it was $3,000. Reports vary, but their offer in 1964, the last time MLB teams would have the freedom to sign whomever they wanted before their own draft kicked in, was on the table.
Seaver declined. He went panning for gold elsewhere when Dedeaux’s deal was presented. He agreed to give Seaver one of his five USC baseball full scholarships if he would first pitch in Alaska Summer League of ’64. Dedeaux worked out a deal for Seaver to joing the Alaska Goldpanners. Rick Monday and Craig Nettles and many future MLB players of that time did that as a way to play after college seasons ended and showcase their talents. Seaver, then 19, experienced his first Midnight Sun Game in Anchorage — the 10:30 p.m. start on June 21 for the summer solstice that has become part of baseball lore.
In 19 games, starting five of them, Seaver posted a 6-2 mark with one save and 4.70 ERA, striking out 70 in 58 2/3 innings. Later that summer, he played in the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, Kansas. Now with the Wichita Glassmen, Seaver hit a grand slam in a game where he had been called in as a relief pitcher. He called that one of his many career highlights.
At USC, Seaver was slotted as the Trojans’ No. 3 starter for a staff that included junior Bob Selleck, the 6-foot-6 older brother of eventual USC basketball, baseball and volleyball player (and actor) Tom Selleck, who followed them to USC (see Selleck’s bio for No. 42).
When USC started practices in March of ’65, it was said that some of Seaver’s teammates suggested he start lifting weights to increase his upper body strength and match them to his impressive leg mechanics. That was to be the starting point of Seaver’s ultra-effective drop-and-drive delivery. His fastball went up from 85 mph to the mid-90s in that time.
Continue reading “No. 37: Tom Seaver (and Bill Bordley)”
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