Tom Seaver is many things: a three-time NL ERA champion, the 1967 NL Rookie of the Year and a three-time Cy Young award winner. However, there's one honor that has evaded him: a bronze statue in Mets' territory.
On Tuesday, Seaver's wife Nancy told the New York Daily News it's "ridiculous" that there is no statue of her husband at Citi Field. She also said she's "embarrassed" for the Mets' oversight.
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While the Mets haven't honored many former members of the team, aside from the retired numbers plastered on the Citi Field outfield wall, Nancy Seaver believes that it's time to pay the man aptly nicknamed "The Franchise" and other Mets greats their due.
“They should have a statue for all those numbers they have retired on their wall — Casey Stengel, Gil Hodges, Mike Piazza,” Nancy Seaver told the Daily News.
The Mets have retired the numbers of Seaver, Stengel and Hodges and will do the same for 2016 Hall of Famer Piazza this summer. If the Mets decide to start paying greater tribute to franchise heroes and legends, it only makes sense that his will be the first statue erected.
In his 12 seasons with the Mets, Seaver boasted a 2.57 ERA, with 198 victories and an astonishing 171 complete games. He also helped the team capture one of its two World Series victories in 1969. Only 24 at the time, he went 25-7 that season with a 2.21 ERA.
However, the modest Seaver isn't so crazy about the statue idea.
“I wouldn’t want people throwing rotten eggs at me and pigeons crapping all over me,” he said.
One of the few Hall of Famers with the Met logo on his hat in the Hall, Seaver was inducted on his first ballot in 1992 with 98.8 percent of the vote.
