Comments on: Old Time Mets: Steve Henderson and the Seaver Trade

By: alan

alan — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 18:40:07 +0000

Anyone who had any thoughts that the Mets were getting the better of the deal of Seaver to the Reds needs his or her head examined. None of those four players were ever going to be anything but serviceable players.We traded the best in quality over a long career for 4 guys whose longevity combined did not equal the Franchise.

His excellence was proven as he still holds the record for the highest vote total for induction to the HOF. As a Mets fan I would like the brass to send Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler to California to spend the winter with the little old winemaker GTS to learn from him what their craft is all about…..

And I hope that M Donald Grant is reborn just so that he can die again but this time it should be a longer and more painful death. July of 1977 still pains Mets fans 35 years later!

By: L.J. Phipps

L.J. Phipps — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:03:38 +0000

In PAL ball I wore Hindu’s #5 for a couple of years, then changed to #13 for good!

By: Joey D.

Joey D. — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 23:01:19 +0000

I thought that in the long term the trade could work out in the Mets favor – I liked all three players involved and hoped Norman (with his baggy socks and all) would add to the future.

But what I was thinking in my head could not overturn what I felt in my heart. As Tom Seaver himself noted, the front office didn’t realize the importance and what impact sending off a franchise player would have on the organization and the fan base.

Looking at the team going ahead in 1978 Seaver would have been the one star on a team going down further nonetheless for as he saw, the team was making no moves to improve the club. What remained of the old guard was on it’s last legs as per Grote, Harrelson, Koozman, Milan, Garrett and though we had Stearns, Mazzili, and Swan coming up, they were too little to bring us back to competitive status. It all started coming together in 1980 until the injuries and then we fell backwards once more, counting on the return of Staub and Kingman.

But Steve, Doug and Pat were nice players to have but it was unfortunate they came to us under such circumstances.

By: Metro69

Metro69 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:17:52 +0000

Nice post! I’ll never forget that grand slam, or the collapse that followed that game.

By: Lisa P.

Lisa P. — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:19:16 +0000

Nice article Barry. Thanks again for another trip down memory lane.

By: William H.

William H. — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 17:56:00 +0000

I was one of those fans who thought we hit the jackpot with Henderson. Zachary was an idiot. I still remember him kicking the dugout step and breaking his toes after he allowed that hit to Pete Rose. But like you said, it all went downhill for Hendu after that rookie season.

By: Metstheory22

Metstheory22 — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 17:21:58 +0000

If I remember right, the Mets had a trade for Seaver going to the Dodgers for Don Sutton according to Jodi MacDonald. Not sure what happened to cancel that one and Mets take Cincinatti offer.

Henderson was a hustler line drive hitter, not much of an arm, Zachary had a jerky delivery, Norman had big arms and not much else, Flynn had a great glove, but could not hit. Still never know how well you will do when you trade someone like Seaver or David Wright for you guys that are thinking of trading him. Until someone has played awhile, you don’t know what you are getting back.