Rozner: Tom Seaver headline of headlines on memorable day

Weird are the things that stick out in your mind.

With all that Tom Seaver accomplished in baseball and in life before passing away a few days ago, there are two things that jump immediately to mind.

Not the Miracle Mets, the drop-and-drive, the no-hitter with the Reds, the very many extraordinary accomplishments and incredible talent.

No, the two things are a conversation I had with him at the Hall of Fame in 2005, which I will endeavor to tell you about in the coming days.

The other is Aug. 4, 1985.

A month more than 35 years ago, it was the day Seaver won his 300th game while pitching for the White Sox in New York against the Yankees, but that Sunday involved so much more during one of the wackiest sports days ever.

A copy editor/writer in the sports department of the Daily Herald, about year into my career, I remember the insanity of that weekend, though looking back at a digital copy of the newspaper there was even more happening than I could recall.

On that same day, Rod Carew got his 3,000th hit, while playing for the Angels and facing the Twins, the team for which he played 12 years and collected 2,085 hits. Carew was the 16th player to reach 3,000.

At Butler National in Oak Brook, 21-year-old Oklahoma State junior Scott Verplank won the Western Open, the first victory by an amateur on the PGA Tour in 29 years. Only Phil Mickelson has done it since (1991).

Verplank defeated Jim Thorpe on the second playoff hole and a year later - after his senior year at OSU - Verplank would turn pro, winning four more times on Tour.

Arlington Park was planning the Miracle Million that would run in a few weeks, despite the beloved oval having burned to the ground only days earlier.

The Bears were practicing in Platteville and on the verge of signing No. 1 pick William Perry. Free agent Steve McMichael had just re-signed and joined the club, but the Bears reported no movement on Al Harris and Todd Bell. You know how that turned out as the Bears were heading into a very big season.

Dwight Gooden beat the Cubs and Ray Fontenot at Wrigley Field - the Cubs having lost all five starters to injury - to lower his ERA to 1.57 and improve to 17-3 as he was locking down the Cy Young, after finishing second to Rick Sutcliffe the year before.

It was Gooden's 11th straight victory, breaking Seaver's Mets record, and Gooden would go on to become the youngest 20-game winner at 20 years old. The Mets would win 98 games that season but finish second to the Cardinals in the East.

Pete Rose was 25 hits away from Ty Cobb's record.

Steve Young was about to sue the USFL for his release, and the NBA's No. 1 pick, Patrick Ewing, returned to Jamaica a hero.

Lee MacPhail, Andy's father and head of the owners' negotiating committee, broke off talks with the MLBPA, while commissioner Peter Ueberroth - who would only possess the job for five years - expressed his displeasure with both sides.

MLB owners rejected the union proposal to avoid an in-season strike, which would occur two days later and last 24 hours. It was at Wrigley two days later that I would cover my first Cubs game and got my first scoop as Larry Bowa said he would retire if the strike wiped out the rest of the 1985 season.

When the Daily Herald's Mark Ruda informed GM Dallas Green, he released Bowa, who signed with the Mets and then retired at the end of the season. Shawon Dunston was recalled from Iowa (AAA) and became the starting shortstop - for the next 10 years.

At 40 years old, Seaver became the 17th to 300 victories when the Sox defeated Yankees 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Seaver gave up 6 singles and a walk while striking out seven in a complete game, getting Don Baylor to fly out to end the game.

Seaver improved to 12-8 with a 2.92 ERA, and would finish 16-11 for the 1985 White Sox with a 3.17 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 5.0 WAR and 6 complete games in 236 innings and 33 starts.

That's a $25 million pitcher today. Seaver was paid $900,000 that season and collected a $200,000 attendance bonus.

The White Sox' starting lineup on Aug. 4, 1985, was Rudy Law (LF) leading off, followed by Bryan Little (2B), Harold Baines (RF), Greg Walker (1B), Carlton Fisk (C), Oscar Gamble (DH), Tim Hulett (3B), Ozzie Guillen (SS) and Luis Salazar (CF).

The Yankees' lineup consisted of Rickey Henderson (CF), Ken Griffey Sr. (DH), Don Mattingly (1B), Dave Winfield (RF), Dan Pasqua (LF), Ron Hassey (C), Willie Randolph (2B), Mike Pagliarulo (3B) and Bobby Meacham (SS), while Joe Cowley - who would throw a very strange no-hitter for the Sox in 1986 - suffered the loss.

The Sox would finish 1985 in third place in the West at 85-77, behind Kansas City and California, while the injury-riddled Cubs, a year after a magical season, would finish fourth in the East at 77-84.

In 1986 after 12 starts, GM Hawk Harrelson would trade Seaver to Boston, completing his two-plus years in Chicago, but a knee injury did not allow him to compete against the Mets in the 1986 World Series.

After attempting a comeback with the Mets the following season, injuries took their toll and he would not make it back to the bigs, retiring as one of the greatest right-handers in baseball history.

On a day of memorable headlines in August 1985, Tom Seaver was the top headline of them all, reaching a magic number in the correct city while wearing an unlikely uniform.

But for White Sox fans around to have seen it, it was no less meaningful - or memorable.