Mets honor Tom Seaver with address change, statue

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Tom Seaver already was a legend for the New York Mets, but now he’ll be a part of their history forever.

On Thursday, the Mets and the City of New York honored the Hall of Fame pitcher by renaming the street between Northern Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue to Seaver Way and changing the address of Citi Field to 41 Seaver Way. 

“Tom was a once-in-a-lifetime player and will always be remembered as one of the greatest players in Mets history.  Tom truly lived up to his nicknames of ‘Tom Terrific’ and ‘The Franchise,’” said Mets COO Jeff Wilpon. “The 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.”

The statue will be built in an area near the Home Run Apple in front of Citi Field.

While the 74-year-old Seaver has dementia and could not attend the event, his family spoke on his behalf at Thursday’s event.

“We were so happy to be part of this ceremony and our father is so honored and humbled to be memorialized in these ways,” Sarah Seaver Zaske and Anne Seaver said. “We thank the amazing fans for their outpouring of love and support.”

Seaver spent 12 years with the Mets, becoming the franchise’s all-time leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts, ERA, complete games and starts, along with winning three Cy Young Awards, Rookie of the Year and the miraculous 1969 World Series championship.