The
New York Mets have announced the club will unveil a Tom Seaver statue in a
pre-game ceremony April 15 beginning at 10:30 am prior to the Mets’ 1:10 p.m.
home opener vs. Arizona.
Mets
owners Steve and Alex Cohen will be in attendance, along with Tom’s widow,
Nancy, their two daughters, Sarah and Anne, and Hall of Fame catcher Mike
Piazza.
The
statue will be located to the right of the Home Run Apple in front of Citi
Field.
“This
is a wonderful way to honor Dad’s legacy, and to celebrate his wonderful years
in New York,” said Sarah Seaver, Tom’s oldest daughter. “The Mets have been
working on this for years, and to see William Behrends’ vision come to fruition
is so exciting and very touching. We are thrilled to share this with all
the fans who supported Dad throughout his career.”
Sculptor
William Behrends was commissioned for the Seaver statue.
“Tom
Seaver’s larger than life presence on the mound and his dynamic pitching
delivery were both a challenge and a rich inspiration to me as a sculptor,”
said Behrends. “I am most grateful to the Seaver family for being so
generous with their time in sharing stories of him and insights into the
extraordinary man he was.”
The
statue of Seaver features his iconic drop and drive delivery and is two times
life-size to scale. The statue is 10 feet high from the granite pitcher’s mound
and 13 ½ feet in length. The total weight of the statue is 3,200 pounds. The
granite mound came in nine separate pieces that weighed 33,600 pounds and added
approximately three feet in height.