#Mike Piazza pays tribute to ‘baseball icon’ Tom Seaver

Mike Piazza was one of several former Mets to honor the passing of team icon Tom Seaver, who died Monday of complications from Lewy body dementia and COVID-19, according to the Hall of Fame.

“Tom Seaver was a larger than life baseball Icon, he embodied all that is desired in a player and a man, dedicated, loyal, sincere and fiercely competitive,” Piazza tweeted Wednesday night. “Showed strength and dignity during his recent suffering. He will be missed #Mets #TomSeaver.

Piazza’s No. 31 joined Seaver’s No. 41 – along with those of former managers Gil Hodges (14) and Casey Stengel (37) and MLB-widely retired Jackie Robinson (42) – as the Mets’ only retired numbers in a Citi Field ceremony in 2016.

The Mets also were slated to retire former starting pitcher Jerry Koosman’s No. 36 on June 13 of this year, but that ceremony was indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’ll always treasure our friendship,” Piazza said of Seaver, in a statement released by the Mets. “Tom was always rooting for me to get into the Hall. Two of my fondest memories are walking out of Shea Stadium after the last game and then when he threw the ceremonial first pitch to me at Citi Field the next year. He was one of a kind.”

Tom Seaver pitches for the Mets during the 1968 season.

JACOBELLIS New York Post

Tom Seaver pitching in 1969

New York Post

Tom Seaver talks to reporters in the locker room after a one-hitter game against the Chicago Cubs in New York City, July 9, 1969.

AP Photo

Gil Hodges, Maury Allen, Casey Stengel and Tom Seaver in 1970

Richard Gummere/NY Post

Woodhaven residents John Ameranti, Jim Jaeger and Joe Riley make obvious their sentiments about Tom Seaver’s departure at Shea Stadium on June 17, 1977.

William N. Jacobellis/New York Post

The front page of The Post on June 16, 1977

New York Post

Tom Seaver throws the last pitch to catcher Mike Piazza at the end of the ceremony closing Shea Stadium on Sept. 28, 2008.

Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Mets All-Star David Wright greets Mets legend Tom Seaver after he throws out the first pitch during the All-Star baseball game at Citi Field on July 16, 2013.

Paul J. Bereswill

Tom Seaver’s children Sarah and Anne hold a street sign with their father’s name as the New York Mets honor their father by renaming the address of Citi Field as 41 Seaver Way on June 27, 2019.

Anthony J. Causi

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Seaver, who won three Cy Young Awards and posted 198 of his 311 career wins in 12 seasons with the Mets, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992 with a then-record 98.84 voting percentage.

Piazza, baseball’s all-time leader in home runs for a catcher, waited until his fourth time on the Hall of Fame ballot to be enshrined in 2016.