by (COOPERSTOWN, NY) – Tom Seaver was the ace of the 1969 Miracle Mets, one of the greatest team stories in baseball history.
Seaver made sure that story – and countless others from his remarkable career – would be told forever in Cooperstown via a remarkable donation of his personal collection.
As baseball celebrates Opening Day – a day when Seaver logged a record 16 starting assignments – the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is preparing to share Seaver’s collection with baseball fans from around the world. When Seaver passed away in 2020, he left much of his collection to the Hall of Fame, which will preserve the pieces in perpetuity.
One of the faces of baseball during the 1970s, Seaver compiled 311 victories, 3,640 strikeouts and three National League Cy Young Awards during a 20-year career with the Mets, Reds, White Sox and Red Sox. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992 with what was at the time the highest percentage of the vote in the history of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America balloting.
Artifacts from the Tom Seaver collection preserved by the Hall of Fame include:
- National League Rookie of the Year Award, 1967
- National League Cy Young Awards from 1969, 1973 and 1975
- Baseball from his first major league victory, a 6-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on April 20, 1967
- Baseball from his 3,500th career strikeout on Aug. 9, 1985
- Mets home jersey from the 1977 season
- Knee pad worn to protect his right knee when it scraped the ground as part of his classic “drop-and-drive” delivery
A new display dedicated to the Tom Seaver collection, featuring highlights from his remarkable career, will open during the July 24-27 Induction Weekend in Cooperstown when fellow Mets legend Carlos Beltrán is enshrined in the Hall of Fame, joining Seaver and Class of 2026 inductees Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent among the 354 electees with bronze plaques at the home of baseball. The new Tom Seaver exhibit was generously supported by Bill Janetschek, William Montgomery and many other individual donors.
For more information on Induction Weekend, please click here.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is open seven days a week year round, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. From Labor Day through the start of Memorial Day Weekend, the Museum observes daily regular hours of 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Ticket prices are $35 for adults (13 and over), $29 for seniors (65 and over) and $26 for juniors (ages 7-12) and $25 for those holding current memberships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion and AMVets organizations. Members are always admitted free of charge and there is no charge for children 6 years of age or younger. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. For more information, visit our website at baseballhall.org or call 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633) or 607-547-7200.
