FORT MYERS, Fla. — The beauty of a bountiful career is that is can be measured beyond the individual snapshots that comprise it. Ask a Mets fan of a certain vintage about Tom Seaver and it’s possible he might not even be able to tell you about his favorite moment because they blend together, because as a whole the 198 wins he collected in a Mets uniform mean just as much as any of them broken out of the pile.

But, let’s face it: One of the fun things about caring about sports is the parts of the pile.

Tom Seaver was my first sports hero. I can’t say that I saw his whole career because he made his debut as a Met exactly 103 days after I was born. So I didn’t see all of these games. But I certainly have taught myself enough about them, read enough about them. Here, in my estimation, are the 10 essential Seaver games in Mets history.

1. July 9, 1969: The Imperfect Game. Howie Rose was there, and the Mets broadcaster has told me many times that was the first time it truly hit home to him how ridiculously fun and meaningful these games can really be. Seaver retired the first 25 Cubs to face him, then Jimmy Qualls dunked one into left-center. When he completed his 4-0 one-hitter by getting Don Kessinger on a lazy fly to left, Seaver stood incredulously on the mound, knowing just how close he’d come to history. As important: The game moved the Mets within a game of the Cubs in the loss column at a time the Mets were first announcing themselves as contenders.

2. Oct. 15, 1969: Another day when fate blinked for Seaver, who was brilliant across 8 ¹/₃ innings, gave up a couple of singles, and was saved by Ron Swoboda’s forever catch in right field from actually surrendering the slim 1-0 lead he’d been handed (that play was a sacrifice fly, so Seaver had to pitch a 10th inning that day). It wound up being the only game he ever won in a World Series.

3. April 22, 1970: There were just 14,197 fans watching a Wednesday matinee at Shea, but what they saw was a 2-1 gem that was every bit as remarkable as the Imperfect Game. Nursing that skinny lead, Seaver struck out the final 10 Padres in a row — still a record 49 years later — giving him 19 for the day, letting him join Steve Carlton as the only two men (to that point) to fan that many in a nine-inning game.

4. Oct. 6, 1973: Befitting the tone of Seaver’s career as a Met, this was hardly the only game he didn’t win on the list. In Game 1 of the NLCS, Seaver humiliated the powerful Reds for 7 ¹/₃ innings, striking out 13 and limiting the Big Red Machine to four hits. But Pete Rose tied the game with a homer with one out in the eighth, and Johnny Bench ended it with a solo walk-off with one out in the ninth.

5. April 13, 1967: The debut. All of 5,005 folks came to Shea to see Seaver throw 5 ¹/₃ innings of six-hit, two-run ball as the rookie took a no-decision — but did strike out Willie Stargell twice and Roberto Clemente once.

6. July 4, 1972: Five days shy of the third anniversary of the Imperfect Game, Seaver again was two outs from a no-hitter, this time against the Padres, when Leron Lee hit a clean single up the middle in the first game of a holiday doubleheader. Seaver settled for an 11-strikout one-hitter.

7. Oct. 16, 1973: Reggie Jackson famously said after this Game 3 of the ’73 Series: “Blind men come to the park to hear him pitch.” Seaver threw eight innings and struck out 12, but fellow Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter matched him pitch-for-pitch and the Mets lost in 11.

8. Sept. 24, 1975: Of all of Seaver’s no-no flirtations with the Mets, this one is most overlooked, though he held the Cubs without a hit for 8 ²/₃ innings in front of 2,113 at Wrigley Field before Joe Wallis broke it up — mostly because it was a 0-0 game at the time. The Mets would lose in 11.

9. Oct. 10, 1973: Seaver wasn’t always thought of as a big-game pitcher, but he delivered 8 ¹/₃ innings of one-run ball against Cincinnati in Game 5 of the ’73 NLCS to lift the Mets — who were in last place as late as Aug. 31 — to the World Series.

10. April 5, 1983: The Mets hadn’t been watchable in his absence, and they wouldn’t be good this year, but there were 46,687 who flocked to Shea to watch Seaver pitch his first game for the Mets in nearly six years against the eventual league champion Phillies. And he was terrific, outdueling Steve Carlton: six innings, three hits, no runs and a no-decision in a game the Mets won 2-0.

Vac’s Whacks

The news of the past few days regarding Tom Seaver has me extra anxious for a couple of books about the ’69 Mets I’ve been waiting on for quite some time now: “They Said It Couldn’t Be Done” by Wayne Coffey (with the audio book narrated by Gary Cohen) and “After the Miracle” by Art Shamsky and Erik Sherman.

I have no Dan Jenkins stories to share, so I am happy to merely add my voice to the chorus of readers who knew, every time an issue of Sports Illustrated arrived and he was in the table of contents, that it would be a very good week. Godspeed.

Wouldn’t it be easier at this point for the Mets to issue press releases on whoever isn’t working for the team?

Obviously, the Tommy John surgery lobby must be in MLB’s ears if it actually wants to experiment with moving the pitcher’s mound back 2 feet. When does this lunacy end?

Whack Back at Vac

Roland Chapdelaine: As a child of the ’60s, I learned a lot from watching Tom Seaver on all those “Kiner’s Korners,” talking about how the mark of a professional was in the giving of your best effort when you don’t have your best stuff. That concept influenced my work ethic throughout my life. Thanks, Tom.

Vac: Years ago I asked Seaver if he was aware of the millions of kids (including me) that he touched during his time as a player. He laughed and said, “It would be impossible not to. Guys like you tell me about it every day.” Then he smiled. “That’s pretty wonderful.”

Stewart Summers: If only Brian Cashman had picked up Justin Verlander, instead of him going to the Astros … the Yankees would have won one, perhaps two World Series. Cashman whiffed big time on that deal.

Vac: And it is the gift that keeps giving.

@Sam_Grunion: If John Gotti was the Teflon Don, then David Fizdale is, without question, the Teflon Coach. The Knicks get savaged for being the worst, but he always seems to skate in the media. Why?

@MikeVacc: You can sense that some Knicks fans are getting a liiiiiittle impatient with the long game …

Brendan Moffatt: So many very good young players are coming into their own at around age of 23, it gives me a ray of hope that Kevin Knox, Frank Ntilikina and Mitchell Robinson will be real stars in two or three years.

Vac: … but not all of them!