Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver has been diagnosed with dementia and will retire from public life, his family announced on Thursday.

In a statement released by the Hall of Fame, Seaver’s family expressed thanks to those who have supported the New York Mets great throughout his career and asked for privacy.nike nfl jerseys for cheap

Seaver has limited his public appearances in recent years. He did not attend the Baseball Writers’ Association of America dinner in January where members of the 1969 team were honored on the 50th anniversary of what still ranks among baseball’s most unexpected champions.

Several of his former teammates reacted to the news Thursday.

Ed Kranepool, Seaver’s teammate on the 1969 Mets, told the Bergen Record, “He always handled himself with dignity and class. My wife Monica and I have the Seavers in our prayers.”
Piazza, whose career did not overlap with Seavers’, added: “This breaks my heart. Do not feel worthy to be mentioned in the same breath, yet honored to be with him in the Baseball Hall of Fame.”

A star at the University of Southern California, Seaver was drafted by Atlanta in 1966 and signed with the Braves only for baseball commissioner William Eckert to void the deal because the Trojans already had played exhibition games that year; baseball rules at the time prohibited a club from signing a college player whose season had started. Any team willing to match the Braves’ signing bonus could enter a lottery, and the Mets won out over Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Seaver, the 1967 Rookie of the Year, was selected to the All-Star Game 12 times, led the league in strikeouts five times and won three Cy Young Awards. He finished his career with 311 wins and 3,640 strikeouts.cheap nike nfl jerseys china

He also pitched for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox and finished his 20-year career with the Boston Red Sox in 1986. Seaver was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1992, receiving 98.8 percent of the vote.

Seaver’s family says he will continue to work at Seaver Vineyards, founded by the retired player and his wife, Nancy, in 2002 on 116 acres