PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. _ In hindsight, "The Franchise" was a nickname that actually fit Tom Seaver better as time wore on. In many ways, he was the Mets, his own journey marked by triumph and heartbreak, the exhilarating highs followed by crushing lows.
To this day, he remains symbolic of the team's greatest achievement, the '69 World Series title, and its most shocking blunder _ trading him to the Reds in 1977 for Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman. From the Miracle Mets to the "Midnight Massacre."
Seaver's story is the one that Mets fans tells their kids, passing him along as if Tom Terrific were a treasured artifact linking generations. For as much as they glow in speaking of his magnificent Flushing career _ 198 victories, four 20-win seasons, 2,541 strikeouts _ the lasting ache of his shocking departure is equally part of that identity.
