Steve Seymour had fun before injuries, saw 3 pro seasons
New Mets farmhand Steve Seymour explained the differences of his new job to his hometown Asbury Park Press in July 1990.
Playing baseball, he told The Press, was no longer just fun. It was a job.
"It's not like going and building houses like I was doing," Seymour explained to The Press. "There's still some fun attached to it or I wouldn't be here."
Seymour eventually tried to take advantage of that fun over three seasons, before injuries ultimately ended his career. He topped out at short-season.
Seymour's career began that year in 1990, taken by the Mets in the 24th round of the draft out of Ocean County College in New Jersey.
Seymour started with the Mets in the rookie Gulf Coast League. He saw nine outings, starting six. He went 3-1, with a 1.91 ERA.
He moved to rookie Kingsport for 1991. He saw eight outings, seven starts there. He went 3-1 again, with a 2.42 ERA.
That August, he went down for two weeks with a sore elbow. But he returned, throwing a five-hitter in a 3-2 win, The Kingsport Times-News wrote.
"I was wondering a little bit if I would lose it," Seymour told The Times-News of earlier success. "I had been pitching pretty well until I got hurt. I wondered if I would lose that rhythm I had going."
Seymour then played 1992 at Kingsport and at short-season Pittsfield. But he saw just five starts between them, tendinitis delaying his season and a shoulder injury on a collision ending his season. He went 1-3, with a 5.27 ERA.
"Injuries have been the whole story with me," Seymour told The Press of Atlantic City that September. "All these setbacks have kept me from moving up. Right now, it would be a success just to get through a season and not get hurt.
That third season, however, proved to be his last.
- Asbury Park Press, July 29, 1990: OCC's Seymour now playing baseball for a living
- Kingsport Times-News, Aug. 17, 1991: K-Mets' Seymour back on track
- Press of Atlantic City, Sept. 11, 1992: Minors
Made the Majors:1,470-31.8%
Never Made Majors:3,160-68.2%-X