The Mets Win Tom Seaver in a Lottery

On April 3, 1966, the New York Mets pulled Tom Seaver's name out of a hat and changed the trajectory of their franchise.

The circumstances were unusual. The Atlanta Braves had drafted Seaver in the secondary phase of the January draft and agreed to a $40,000 bonus. But Commissioner William Eckert voided the contract because the University of Southern California had already started its spring schedule, making Seaver ineligible to sign. Seaver's father threatened a lawsuit. Eckert, improvising a solution that had no precedent, arranged a special lottery open to any team willing to pay Seaver at least $50,000.

Three clubs entered the drawing: the Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Cleveland Indians. Somebody reached into a hat and pulled the Mets' name. The next day, Seaver signed for a $51,000 bonus.

It was the most consequential hat trick in franchise history. The Mets had been a laughingstock since their founding in 1962, losing more than 100 games in four of their first five seasons. Seaver arrived in Queens in 1967, won 16 games as a rookie, and earned the National League Rookie of the Year award. Two years later, he went 25-7 and led the Miracle Mets to a World Series championship that remains one of the most improbable titles in baseball history.

Seaver pitched for the Mets until 1977, won three Cy Young Awards, and entered the Hall of Fame in 1992 with the highest vote percentage in history at that time.

All of it started with a name drawn from a hat on an April afternoon.