Seaton, Native Blairite who Made Big Leagues, Dies

Thomas Gordon Seaton, 51, former big-league baseball star who was born in Blair, died April 10 in an El Paso, Texas, hospital after a long illness, according to an article in Sporting News.

Seaton, according to the sports publication, was born in Blair August 30, 1888.

His most notable record in the big leagues was his feat of winning 27 games, including six shutouts, while pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1913.

He was one of the first pitchers to be credited with using the knuckleball. Up to about five years ago, he continued playing semi-pro ball and was recognized also as one of El Paso’s leading bowlers. He had moved to El Paso 19 years ago and for the past 12 had been foreman of the Cottrell and arsenic plants of the smelter there.

Seaton had a varied baseball career. He broke in with Portland of the old Northwestern league in 9109 and was with Portland of the Pacific Coast loop the following year. At the close of the 1911 season he was drafted by the Phillies from Portland after their original designee, Catcher Kuhn, had been found ineligible.

After pitching for Philadelphia in 1912-13, Seaton jumped to the Brooklyn Federals in 1914, remaining with the club until August, 1915, when he was traded to the Newark Feds. Newark sold him to the Chicago Nationals in January, 1916, and in August of that year he was released to Indianapolis, which club sent him to Los Angeles late in 1917. Later he went back to the majors with the Chicago Cubs, who sold him to San Francisco. In 1919 he was one of the mound wheelhorses of the Seals.

His widow, an infant son, a brother and sister survive.

Note: On Find A Grave, # 15976326, Evergreen Almeda Cemetery El Paso, El Paso County, Texas there is a photo of him in his baseball uniform and a photo of his grave stone. In the Bio, it reads: Major League Baseball Player. He spent six seasons in the major leagues as a pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Tip-Tops, Newark Peppers and Chicago Cubs. Seaton made his big league debut in 1912 and appeared in 231 games, winning 93 and losing 65. He ended his career throwing 90 complete games and with a lifetime 3.14 earned run average.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~