Tom Terrific

By : Mike Rifkin

On Friday prior to the Mets home opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks the Mets will unveil a statue of “The Franchise” Tom Seaver in front of Citi Field. Seaver was a member of the 1969 World Series Champion and 1973 National League Champion Mets teams. Seaver is the Mets all time leader in Wins ( 198), Innings pitched (3,045.2), Games started ( 395), Complete Games (171), Shutouts (44) and won three CY Youngs as a Met. After his playing career Seaver worked as an analyst for Mets and Yankee games on WPIX.  He also worked Nationally on NBC and ABC. In 1992 Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame with 98.4 percent of the vote, which at the time was the highest percent for a player to receive. Seaver threw the ceremonial last pitch at Shea Stadium in 2008 and threw out the first pitch at Citi Field in 2009.  Seaver passed away in 2020 due to Lewy body dementia and complications of Covid 19, but on Friday the man dubbed the Franchise will have be immortalized with a statue in front of Citi Field.