Tom "The Franchise" or "Terrific Tom" Seaver began his career in 1967 when he was drafted by the New York Mets. During the 1967 season, he made his Major League debut and played in 16 games for the last-place Mets and was named the National League Rookie of the Year. He was also named to the 1967 All-Star Game, and pitched a scoreless 15th inning.

Tom's stardom rose in 1969 when he completed a remarkable season with the Mets, coming from the depths of the National League to win their first World Series championship. Seaver won a league-high 25 games and his first of three National League Cy Young Award. The same year, Seaver pitched a complete-game, 10-inning win in Game Four against the Baltimore Orieals to put the Mets on the brink of their first championship. At year's end, Seaver was presented with both the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year, and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award.

Between 1970 and 1976, Seaver led the National League in strikeouts five of the seven seasons, finishing second in 1972 and third in 1974. Seaver also won three ERA titles as a Met. A famous quote about Seaver is attributed to Reggie Jackson: "Blind men come to the park just to hear him pitch."

In what New York's sports reporters dubbed "the Midnight Massacre", Mets General Manager M. Donald Grant sent Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds on June 15, 1977. He finished the 1977 season with 21 wins by going 14-3 with Cincinnati, including an emotional 5-1 win over the Mets in his return to Shea Stadium.

In 1982 Seaver was traded back to the Mets and on April 5, 1983, he tied Walter Johnson's major league record of 14 Opening Day starts, shutting out the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0.

Seaver ended his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1986. Seaver's 311th and last win came on August 18, 1986, against the Minnesota Twins. At the time of his retirement Seaver was third on the all-time strikeout list (3,640). His lifetime ERA of 2.86 was third among starting pitchers in the "live-ball" era, behind only Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax. The Mets retired his uniform number 41 in 1988.

Seaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 7, 1992. He received the highest-ever percentage of votes with 425 of 430 ballots (98.84 percent) and is the only player enshrined in the Hall of Fame with a Mets cap on his plaque.

Tom and his wife, Nancy live in Calistoga, California, where they tend to their vineyards.