Seaver Is Coming Back to Anaheim as All-Star Rookie

Tom Seaver, as a rookie in 1967, pitched in his first All-Star game. It was played at Anaheim Stadium.

Next Tuesday, Seaver will be back at Anaheim Stadium for another All-Star game, this time as a broadcaster.

Vin Scully and Seaver, plus former President Reagan, who is scheduled to make a one-inning guest appearance, will announce the game for NBC.

During his 20-year pitching career, Seaver appeared in eight All-Star games and was selected for four others but wasn’t used.

His first, however, was his most memorable.

“Here I was 1 1/2 years out of USC and pitching on a team with people like Ferguson Jenkins, Don Drysdale and Juan Marichal,” Seaver said. “It was quite a thrill.”

Seaver, who didn’t get many thrills then as a member of the New York Mets, pitched the 15th and final inning, saving a 2-1 victory for the National League.

Drysdale got the victory as Cincinnati’s Tony Perez homered in the top of the 15th.

There was 30 strikeouts in that game, which began at 4:15 p.m.

With next Tuesday’s game beginning a little after 5:15, figure on more of the same.

“The shadows at that time of day make it pretty tough on the hitters,” Seaver said. “I don’t think that you would want to play that time of day seven days a week.”

Seaver points to two other All-Star games as highlights.

One was the 1968 game, in which he struck out Mickey Mantle on three pitches, and the other was the 1970 game at Cincinnati. Seaver started and pitched three shutout innings in a 5-4 National League victory.

“Some of my most enjoyable experiences in baseball were going to All-Star games,” Seaver said.

“I used to get asked if baseball was still fun for me. Well, that’s an oversimplified question.

“Baseball meant a lot to me beyond just fun. But I viewed going to All-Star games as fun in the purest sense.

“It’s one of the most enjoyable experiences you can have as a player. It’s a lighter moment when you can show off your talent and it doesn’t go on your permanent record. Basically, it is a show. You have to remember that.”

Seaver would like to see a few changes, though.

For one thing, he thinks the system for selecting the starters should be changed.

“The fans should still have a voice, but so should the players and so should the managers and coaches,” he said.

“With the computer systems we have now, you could collect votes from all three factions--fans, players, and coaches and managers--feed it into a computer and come up with some way of determining the starting lineups.”

Seaver also believes the rosters should be increased to 30 or 32.

This is Seaver’s first and last full season with NBC, at least for the time being.

He was brought in to replace Joe Garagiola, who quit NBC last November after 27 seasons.

And next season, CBS takes over.

“I have no idea what I’ll be doing next season,” Seaver said.

But, he said, the feeling around NBC is that the network eventually will be back in the baseball business.

CBS has a three-year deal with baseball.

If NBC gets back into the picture after that, Seaver will be sitting pretty.

Although the team of Scully and Seaver hasn’t been seen in Los Angeles very often this season, Seaver has been impressive when seen here.

But that’s no surprise. Seaver has had quite a bit of experience.

Seaver, who first got into broadcasting as a weekend sports anchor for New York’s WCBS in 1975, did postseason baseball for ABC in 1976 and ‘77, and then did the same for NBC from 1978 through ’81.

He now also announces Yankee telecasts for New York’s WPIX with George Grande and Phil Rizzuto.

Seaver, who grew up in Fresno, has always been glib and insightful. And now he’s working with perhaps the best play-by-play announcer in baseball, Scully.

“The hard part, as it is any time you work with someone new, is getting the timing down,” Seaver said. “I think we’ve improved in that area every week.”

Has Seaver been critiquing himself?

“Just like when I was playing, I only watch tapes of myself after a good performance,” he said, laughing. “I don’t look at the bad ones.”

TV-Radio Notes

Remember the campy “Fred and Tommy Show” that was on Channel 4 after last January’s Super Bowl, the one in which Tom Lasorda, by Jim Healy’s count, said the word outstanding 73 times? Yes, the one in which Lasorda, apparently forgetting that the Rams and Raiders play in Southern California, told two 49ers that he hoped their team and the Dodgers and Lakers could all repeat as world champions. Well, the team of Fred Roggin and Lasorda return on a special post-postgame All-Star show on Channel 4 Tuesday night.

Roggin will also have a special All-Star pregame show, beginning at 4:30 p.m. NBC will then have a 15-minute pregame show at 5. . . . CBS radio coverage of the game, with Brent Musburger and Johnny Bench, will be carried by KNX (1070) at 5:20. Jerry Coleman will be on hand to conduct interviews. . . . On Monday at 7:30 p.m., Channel 4 will televise a syndicated half-hour baseball blooper show with Marv Albert.

Attention trivia buffs: Bench is the host of the “Great American Baseball Quiz,” a half-hour show that will be on ESPN Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Other play dates: Thursday at 10 p.m. and July 17 at 6:30 a.m. . . . A reminder: “Home Run Derby,” the old show with the late Mark Scott, begins a 1 1/2-month run on ESPN Monday at 3 p.m.

The baseball quiz show and “Home Run Derby” are part of 16 1/2 hours of baseball programming on ESPN during a four-day span beginning Sunday at 5 p.m. with “The Old Game,” a historical look at the national pastime. Monday’s baseball programming begins at 4:30 p.m. and highlights include a musical All-Star salute at 5:30, a round-table discussion at 6 p.m., and four hours of live coverage of the All-Star Gala Party at Disneyland. . . . Prime Ticket will air a special “It’s Your Call” from Disneyland Monday at 6, with Bill MacDonald as host and Bench among the guests. . . . Tuesday at 10 a.m., ESPN will televise the National Old-Timers Classic, played June 19 in Buffalo, and Wednesday at 5 p.m., ESPN will have live coverage of the Triple-A All-Star game from Columbus, Ohio.

Al Downing, who has quietly been doing a outstanding job as the host of “Dodgertalk” on KABC radio for years, got some recognition this week for a comment he made about Mike Marshall. “I think a guy with that much talent ought to be in there more often,” Downing said. “I’ve never seen a guy with that much talent miss more games than Marshall, year after year.” Downing cited Mickey Mantle, Kirk Gibson and Fernando Valenzuela as players willing to play in pain. Not everybody appreciated Downing’s commentary. Marshall’s wife Mary called to defend her husband.

NBC will show the Wimbledon men’s semifinals today at 10 a.m., the women’s final Saturday at 8 a.m. and the men’s final Sunday at 8 a.m. All shows will be delayed in the West. . . . Tennis fans seeking some laughs should check out “Dirty Tennis,” an MCA home video now on sale. The humorous video stars Dick Van Patten and Bruce Jenner. . . . ESPN has hired former Georgia coach Vince Dooley as a college football commentator and has also given “SportsCenter” anchorman John Saunders a new multiyear contract.