STEVE SEAL
Baseball, 1969-70
Inducted February 16, 1991
 
Native Springfieldian Steve Seal played on the first two big winners in the young history of the SMSU baseball Bears when he caught for the 1969 and 1970 ballclubs of Coach Bill Rowe.  Coming to SMS as a transfer from the University of Missouri, Seal was the primary receiver for the pitching staff which recorded a 3.13 team earned run average and 322 strikeouts.  The earned run average recorded wasn’t broken until 1990 and the strikeout figure still stands.  Seal was a defensive wizard behind the plate, making only two errors in 231 total chances behind the plate for a .991 fielding average in 1969.  A year later he had a .994 fielding average and his career mark of .992 remains the all-time SMS career record.  The Bears posted a 27-10 record in 1969, won the MIAA Southern Division and the league championship, captured the NCAA regional title in Mankato, Minn., and went on to host and play in the first-ever NCAA College Division World Series, where the Bears finished as the national runner-up to Illinois State.  The following year, SMS repeated its divisional and league titles and won the Midwest Regional in Rolla, MO.  The Bears went on to finish third in the Division II World Series behind Cal State-Northridge and Nicholls State and wound up with an overall 23-13 record.  Seal was the SMS co-captain in 1970.