NEW YORK — Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, who won a World Series with the New York Mets, then spent parts of six seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, has died.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced Seaver's passing Wednesday night. He was 75 years old.
Seaver's family said the 20-year major league veteran passed away peacefully in his sleep from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19.
“We are heartbroken to share that our beloved husband and father has passed away,” Seaver's wife, Nancy, and daughters Sarah and Anne said. “We send our love out to his fans, as we mourn his loss with you.”
Seaver started his career with the Mets in 1967. Over the next two decades, he would record 311 wins, while striking out 3,640 batters. He came to Cincinnati via trade during the 1977 season and won 75 games for the Reds, including a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16, 1978.
"Tom Seaver was one of the best and most inspirational pitchers to play the game," said Reds Chief Executive Officer Bob Castellini in a statement released by the team. "We are grateful that Tom’s Hall of Fame career included time with the Reds. We are proud to count his name among the greats in the Reds Hall of Fame. He will be missed."
The owners of the Mets also released a statement, calling Seaver "simply the greatest Mets player of all-time and among the greatest to ever play the game."
He was traded back to the Mets in 1982, then joined the Chicago White Sox in 1984. He finished his career with a 28-28 record with the White Sox and Boston Red Sox in 1986.
He won three National League Cy Young Awards and helped lead the Mets to the 1969 World Series championship. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992, receiving 98.8% of the possible votes for induction, a record that stood until Ken Griffey Jr. broke it with 99.3% of the votes in 2016, then Mariano Rivera was named on each of the 425 votes cast in the 2019 Hall of Fame election.
Before his playing career, Seaver served in the U.S. Marine Corps. After retirement, Seaver tended to his Northern California vineyard.
His family announced last year that he had been diagnosed with dementia.