The Mets Police

When Tom Seaver returned to the Mets in December 1982, he was treated like returning royalty.

Yet Seaver, acquired in a trade for three players, was coming off a dismal season for the Reds in which he had gone 5-13 with a 5.50 earned-run average.

No one knew quite what the Mets were getting — the greatest player in club history, or a vague facsimile.

"I don't know what the public will remember or expect," Seaver said at a crowded news conference at Shea Stadium. "I'm not going to go out next season with a sign saying, 'It's 1983 and I'm 38 years old.' "

"When I pitch, I still have to get Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt out. ... They want me to come back here and be Tom Seaver."

Other major stars who returned to their initial team for one last fling, albeit with less panache than the Babe, included Tony Perez and Pete Rose to the Reds (1984 for both, a dalliance that would not end well for Rose, brought in to be a player-manager with an unanticipated sidelight as a gambler); Reggie Jackson to the A's (1987); Phil Niekro to the Braves (for one ceremonial start in 1987); Don Sutton to the Dodgers (1988); Gary Carter to the Expos (1992); Eddie Murray to the Orioles (1996, for a stint that included his 500th home run); Rickey Henderson to the A's (the last time in 1998); and Tom Glavine to the Braves (2008).