Most baseball fans will undoubtedly best remember Tom Seaver for his incredible achievements on the mound in the Major Leagues, and his leadership of the 1969 "Miracle Mets."  Alaskan baseball fans, however, hold a special place in their hearts for a young right-handed fireballer for the Alaska Goldpanners who dazzled fans and mowed down opposing batters while pitching Fairbanks in 1964 and 1965.

     Tom Seaver provided one of the more memorable moments for Alaska fans not as a pitcher, but as a batter.  With the Goldpanners trailing 3-2 with two outs and bases loaded late in the game, the batter was none other than Tom Seaver.  Former Goldpanner Coach Red Boucher recalled that although the situation normally called for the pitcher to be pulled for a pinch hitter, Boucher elected to go against conventional wisdom.  Red allowed that his decision was influenced by the fact that he probably couldn't have taken the bat out of the determined Seaver's hands if he had wanted to!  Seaver responded by clouting a grand slam homerun in the semi-finals over the left center field fence.  Tom recounted the 1964 National Baseball Congress Tournament homerun as one of his fondest memories in his book "The Perfect Game."  His heroics catapulted the Panners into the National Championship Finals.

     "Tom Terrific's" record setting percentage of votes which he received from the PBWAA is a reflection not only of his tremendous talent on the playing field, but also of his personal character.  Although without a doubt one of the greatest ever to play the game, Seaver kept his remarkable accomplishments in perspective with the more important things in his life, such as his family.

     Contemplating upon the significance of his election to the Hall of Fame, he noted that someday his children would be able to take his grandchildren there, and say, "There's your grandfather, in his day he was pretty good at what he did."

     The members of the Seventeenth Alaska Legislature take great pleasure in joining the sporting world in honoring Tom Seaver for his remarkable lifetime achievements.  The quiet, dignified humility with which he has accepted the numerous awards and honors he has earned has truly made him an example to be held up to Alaska's and America's youth.