The New York Mets will honor Tom Seaver, their greatest player of any era, with an official street renaming outside Citi Field in Flushing this Thursday.
Members of the 1969 “Miracle Mets,” including Jerry Koosman, Cleon Jones and Ron Swoboda, will join Seaver’s children and grandchildren and team executives at 11 a.m. on June 27 as 126th Street between Roosevelt Avenue and Northern Boulevard will be changed to Seaver Way.
Currently, the mailing address for Citi Field is 120-01 Roosevelt Ave., but after the event the new address for the stadium will be 41 Seaver Way. The three-time Cy Young award winner’s jersey number was 41, a number the team retired in 1988.
Seaver’s family announced in March that the first ballot Hall of Famer is suffering from dementia and has retired from public life, choosing to spend the time he has left with his family at his Napa Valley estate in California. In addition to the street renaming, the Mets are expected to unveil plans for a statue honoring the former ace as well.
“We’ve been working on exploring a potential statue option for a couple of years in coordination with the family,” Mets Chief Revenue Officer Lou DePaoli said.“We won’t be unveiling a statue this season.”
Seaver was the star of the 1969 World Series Championship team that stunned the sports world after being a laughingstock for much of their first decade in baseball. Nicknamed “Tom Terrific,” Seaver was just 24 years old when he pitched the Mets to a 100-62 regular season finishing with 25 wins and just seven losses with an ERA of 2.21.
On Wednesday, the City Council passed a bill that officially changes the street name.
“Tom Seaver may not have laid the bricks of Citi Field but he helped build the foundation this franchise is celebrated for,” City Councilman Francisco Moya said. “Whether you had the fortune enough to watch Tom Seaver lead the Amazins to a World Series championship in 1969 or you grew up in the shadows of that greatness, Queens residents have always known their ballpark was built with his right arm. It’s only fitting for Citi Field to now reside on 41 Seaver Way. It’s an honor and childhood dream come true to immortalize one of the greatest Mets of all time with this street renaming.”
In the World Series, Seaver dropped game one to the powerful Baltimore Orioles but the Mets stormed back to sweep the next four, turning old Shea Stadium into a scene of pure bedlam on Oct. 16.
Seaver played in 20 major league seasons including the 1973 National League pennant winning Mets squad. He also pitched for the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox.
Following his playing career, Seaver worked as a broadcaster, calling Yankees telecasts alongside Phil Rizzuto during the 1990s and then Mets games from 1999 to 2005 on WPIX.
The Mets will honor members of the 1969 team during a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves this weekend. Seaver, 74, will remain in California.
“Although he’s unable to attend the ’69 Anniversary, we are planning to honor him in special ways and have included his family in our plans,” Mets COO Jeff Wilpon said.
The street renaming is open to the public. Free parking will be available in Lot A with gates opening at 10 a.m. Enter via Shea Road as 126th Street will be closed for the ceremony.
