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Steven Travers
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The Last Icon: Tom Seaver and His Times Kindle Edition

by Steven Travers (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 38 ratings
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In early 1969, New York City and all it represented was in disarray: politically, criminally, and athletically. But while Simon and Garfunkel lamented the absence of a sports icon like Joe DiMaggio, a modern Lancelot rode forth to lead the New York Mets to heights above and beyond all sports glory.

This book tells the complete, unvarnished story of the great Tom Seaver, that rarest of all American heroes, the New York Sports Icon. In a city that produces not mere mortals but sports gods, Seaver represented the last of a breed. His deeds, his times, his town—it was part of a vanishing era, an era of innocence. In 1969, six years after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Seaver and the Mets were the last gasp of idealism before free agency, Watergate, and cynicism. Here is the story of “Tom Terrific” of the “Amazin’ Mets,” a man worthy of a place alongside DiMaggio, Ruth, Mantle, and Namath in the pantheon of New York idols.
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  1. Print length
    307 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    Not Enabled
  4. Publisher
    Taylor Trade Publishing
  5. Publication date
    November 15, 2011
  6. File size
    8813 KB
  7. Page Flip
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  8. Word Wise
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A fascinating new book... -- Steve Serby, Sports Columnist ― New York Post

...[a] must-read for any Mets fan, and for any baseball fan for that matter. -- Diane LaRue, Book Chick Di blog

You have again handled the Seaver subject matter with aplomb. -- Marty Lurie, San Francisco Giants' pre-game host

...[A]nyone who grew up admiring Tom Terrific will enjoy reading. Clearly New Yorkers and Mets fans will get the most out of this book, but anyone who has ever debated just who the best pitcher in baseball's long history will find grist for the mill within the pages. ― AtHomePlate.com

...[A] friendly, well-researched book about one of the great men of all time... -- Eric Alterman, The Nation

I really enjoy your writing and how you tell the story. -- Pete Spadora ― Spadora on Sports

About the Author

Steven Travers is a USC graduate and ex-professional baseball player. He is the author of the best-selling Barry Bonds: Baseball's Superman, nominated for a Casey Award (Best Baseball Book of 2002). He is also the author of The USC Trojans: College Football's All-Time Greatest Dynasty and One Night, Two Teams: Alabama vs. USC and the Game that Changed the Nation. He lives in San Anselmo, California.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005HIK8WK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Taylor Trade Publishing (November 15, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 15, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 8813 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 307 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 38 ratings

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Steven Travers

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
38 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Larry Underwood
5.0 out of 5 stars The Franchise
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2011
Tom Seaver was a rookie pitching sensation in 1967 who looked more like a clubhouse boy than major leaguer; at least, that's what Cardinals outfielder Lou Brock thought when he spotted Tom Terrific wandering around the National League clubhouse prior to the '67 All-Star Game. Of course, the baby-faced Seaver may have looked like a high school kid back then, but on the mound, his abilities more closely resembled Christy Mathewson.

Steven Travers recalls the career of one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, from his modest beginnings as a kid in Fresno, to his iconoclastic reign as the face of the franchise for the once-lowly New York Mets. It was no coincidence that the Mets would go from worst to first, just two years after Seaver burst upon the major league scene. His 25 wins in '69 made him the King of the Big Apple, leading the Mets to their first World Series championship, upsetting the heavily favored Orioles in just five games. Ironically, Seaver lost Game One of that Fall Classic, but this particular team of destiny proved to be an unstoppable force over the next four games.

As Cardinals great Bob Gibson's dominance began to fade in the early '70s, Seaver was just getting started, pitching brilliantly for a team that rarely scored many runs; but usually enough for Seaver to notch another win, and lay claim to being the best pitcher in the game. As his popularity with the fans in New York soared, his relationship with the Mets' front office soured. After a 7-3 start to the '77 season, Seaver was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds amid a public relations backlash in the town that adored its pitching ace.

With the end of the Seaver era in New York, the Mets slipped into a period of abysmal performance for several years; only the surprising emergence of Dwight Gooden, in '84, brought the franchise out of its funk. Clearly, while Tom Seaver still called New York "home", we was The Franchise. If you're a Mets fan, you'll love this story.
5 people found this helpful
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Sugafoot
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Icon
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. I've been a fan of Tom Seaver since I was a kid. We all know that Seaver is the best pitcher of the post war era and arguably in the entire history of the sport of baseball; and that is described in detail in this book. But what also shines through is how Tom Seaver is also a thoroughly descent human being. I hope that one day Seaver will pen his own memoir of his time in the game, and if he does I hope he includes some vintage Tug McGraw stories.
3 people found this helpful
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Richard Kaplan
4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great.
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2011
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The title and the subject have such great promise and this book does an OK job covering the man who more than any other defined NY baseball in the late 60s and early 70s. Maybe it's unfair, but I expected better; something more akin to a Kahn's Boys of Summer or Charles Einstein's Willie's Time. Travers is maybe a little too excited or swept up in his iconography of Seaver and got lost in his own fascination of the man. On the one hand there are great details about the highlights of Seaver's career - coming to the Mets, the almost no-hitter against the Cubs, and of course the 69 and 73 pennant races and World Series games. The book also does a good job describing, from the pitcher's perspective, the events leading up to the Cincinnati trade. In between though are somewhat incomplete observations about who he did and didn't get along with, Seaver's ease in crossing racial lines, and his commitment to his family and maintaining his own set of values. None of this is bad or inaccurate (as far as I might know) but much of it is oddly placed, not always in context or rehashed in other chapters.

What I truly enjoyed about this work was the devotion to detail of the 69 and 73 seasons, as well as other highlight periods in Seaver's career. Travers is good about taking you back to games that I distinctly remember watching on WOR, listening to on the radio or actually seeing at Shea. Those memories alone make the book worthwhile.
9 people found this helpful
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Review King
3.0 out of 5 stars Seaver's record speaks for itself
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2012
Verified Purchase
Overall a decent book. Would rate it a 2 for those who saw Seaver's career unfold and a 4 for those who never had the opportunity to see him pitch.

Unfortunately, the author is an over the top Seaver fan and seems to think it necessary to emphasize that Seaver's record would have been better had he had more run support.When he won 20 the author says he should have won 30! When he won 15, the author says he should have won 20!! he won 3 Cy Youngs-the author argues he should have had twice as many!!!

Long story short(and i am a Yankee fan and not a great fan of Seaver) Tom Seaver is a 300 game winner,3 time Cy Young award winner, a near unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer and in the discussion to be one of the greatest pitchers of all time. It is unnecessary to cheapen his legacy by making silly excuses for why he should have been even more successful than he was.
4 people found this helpful
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J. Young
2.0 out of 5 stars Avoid the book if a Mets fan
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
I've loved the Mets since 1977 and this is one of the worst Mets or sports books I've read due to the author's slavish devotion to Tom Terrific. i did not feel I got a balanced story from the author who was clearly a Seaver fan. Only the positive attributes of the subject were stressed and you are force fed that Seaver could do no wrong (almost) and he was always three steps above everyone else.

If you are a Mets fan you will not learn one new fact or insight about Tom Seaver. Avoid this book.
One person found this helpful
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Mickey Mantle
1.0 out of 5 stars Tom Seaver is NOT Ward Cleaver.
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2020
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The book should be about Tom Seaver and his brilliance. The author ruins the subject by his constant tributes to the University of Southern California and the author's political leanings. Tom Seaver deserves a lot better than this Fanboy style hero worship. Very childish, petty and disappointing.
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David S. Brunton
2.0 out of 5 stars not the greatest baseball book ever written.
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2019
Verified Purchase
Not a well written book, I took issue with the authors comparisons to today's baseball compared to what Tom Seaver could do. Not a terrible book, I was reasonably entertained.
3 people found this helpful
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knarf
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
very informative and entertaining
3 people found this helpful
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