An excited crowd of fans gathered outside Citi Field ahead of the New York Mets’ home opener on Friday, April 15, to witness the long-anticipated unveiling of a statue memorializing franchise legend Tom Seaver.
Other notable attendees included Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and other local electeds, along with members of the Seaver family.
It’s #OpeningDay here at @CitiField! Great to spend some time with my friend @StevenACohen2 this morning as we get ready to unveil a statue for Tom Terrific before the game. #Mets #LGM pic.twitter.com/2Tr5DITzRN
— Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (@QnsBPRichards) April 15, 2022
Additionally, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom and former Mets players Mike Piazza and Mookie Wilson were on hand for the ceremony.
The statue is among the many new features at Citi Field this year.
While many Mets fans are happy about having arguably the greatest player in the franchise’s history immortalized outside the stadium, they also feel this should’ve been done long ago, before Seaver passed away in 2020 and before he was diagnosed with dementia in 2019. Still, they view its creation as better late than never.
When we talk about the 1969 Miracle @Mets, all the stories we tell start with the same two words:
Tom Seaver. #LGM https://t.co/ILkyOGdwSj pic.twitter.com/OpOpQpDCGy
— Queens Borough President Donovan Richards (@QnsBPRichards) April 15, 2022
“[The statue creation] should’ve been done 20 years ago,” said John Galgano, of Catchogue. “It’s a shame Tom wasn’t here.”
Still, Galgano said he was grateful for the organization finally honoring Seaver in this way.
According to Seth Noboa of Franklin Square, this statue also acts as a great way of the franchise honoring its history.
“I think this goes a long way towards making Citi Field feel more like home,” Noboa said.
He also cited the upcoming return of Old Timers’ Day on Aug. 27 as another way of the franchise doing this.
For Green Lawn resident Morgan Melchiorre, the Tom Seaver statue unveiling presented him with a fantastic return to Citi Field after attending just one game last season and, like everyone else, not being able to attend any games in 2020. A father of two, with one being immunocompromised, Melchiorre is looking forward to attending games with them throughout the season and having them see the Seaver statue.
“I’m bringing them to the park next week,” Melchiorre said.
As for his opinion on whether or not more statues should join Seaver’s in the near future, Melchiorre said the organization should have other priorities.
“We don’t need more statues right now. What we need is pennants.”
