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Seaver is arguably the best starting pitcher ever considering the anemic run support he had for most of his career. An absolute bulldog on the mound with the smarts to match.
Koosman pitched in Seaver's shadow and was underrated for it but he was very good and a big game pitcher in his own right, pitched a complete game victory to clinch the '69 series over the Orioles. Interestingly, when the Mets traded Kooz late in his career to the Twins, in return they received a young lefty prospect - Jesse Orosco - who in turn was on the mound for the last out when the Mets closed out their other WS title in 1986.
As a Met, Ryan was an amalgam of frustration and unfulfilled promise due to the combination of his control issues and persistent blistering - after being traded away by the Mets he happened upon the treatment of soaking his pitching hand in pickle brine which toughened his skin to solve the blistering problems and gained better control of his pitches to go on to his own greatness.
Big Jon Matlack came later, won Rookie of the Year in 72, had great stuff and could be as dominant as anyone when he was on, had a great season on a dreadful Mets squad in 1976 but frustratingly he never could put it all together consistently to be as good as he should have been, however he did pitch one of the greatest games in Mets' history, a complete game 2-hit shutout against The Big Red Machine at Riverfront Stadium in the 1973 NLCS, he was as masterful as anyone that day against one of the hardest hitting line-ups ever assembled.
That 1973 Mets team should have beaten the mighty A's, up 3 games to 2 going back to Oakland, Seaver demanded the ball on short rest and Yogi couldn't refuse him, Seaver was great in Game 6 but Catfish was just a bit better that day, and then the A's went on to win game 7. Us Mets fans will always wonder "what if" Yogi had held out Seaver for Game 7 on full rest since he could have gone with 4th starter George Stone who was 12-3 that season for Game 6.
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