Mets announce Tom Seaver statue at Citi Field

The Mets announced that they commissioned a statue of their Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, which will reside outside Citi Field. The statue was announced at a ceremony marking the official change of address of Citi Field to 41 Seaver Way.

A release from Mets’ COO Jeff Wilpon for the address change ceremony noted, “[t]he address change to 41 Seaver Way has been in the works for a long time and is the first of our efforts to honor Tom. Today we are also officially announcing that we have commissioned a statue in honor of Tom that will be coming soon to Citi Field.”

Early reports indicate that the statue is planned to be approximately eight feet tall, and that the statue will be situated close to the old Shea Stadium Home Run Apple outside of Citi Field, adjacent to the main ballpark entrance. Initial reports before the season were that the team hoped to unveil the Seaver statue during the 2019 season, but the current timeline is unclear.

Currently struggling with the effects of dementia, Seaver was unable to attend the ceremony honoring him today, nor will he be able to attend the 1969 World Championship celebration and reunion this weekend at Citi Field. Seaver’s daughters, Sarah Seaver Zaske and Anne Seaver were on hand, expressing the family’s sentiment that, “our father is so honored and humbled to be memorialized in these ways.” Seaver played for the Mets from 1967-1977 and then again in 1983, going 198-124 in 401 games with a 2.57 ERA. He is the Mets’ all-time leader in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, games started, shutouts, complete games, ERA, and WHIP.