William Behrends, sculptor of Tom Seaver statue, talks about larger-than-life project

Very few people on Earth know how long it takes to make a 10-foot-high, 13½-foot-long, 3,200-pound statue.

But we can all imagine how much longer it would take if you were trying to make one during a pandemic.

That was the challenge facing North Carolina-based sculptor William Behrends, who started talking with the Mets in March 2019 about making a statue of “The Franchise,” Hall of Famer Tom Seaver.

A lot has happened since March 2019.

Mets fans will finally get their first look at the finished product when it is unveiled on Friday outside Citi Field at 10:30 a.m. before the team’s home opener.

“The pandemic really threw a wrench into everything,” Behrends said on Wednesday in a telephone interview. “On my end, supply chains, the foundry closing down, that type of thing really slowed us down. That really happened at a time when we were just in the talking stages and ready to get started on the studies and the sculpture. It was at an inopportune time.”

Behrends, who has five of his statues of iconic baseball players outside the Giants ballpark in San Francisco, two at Petco Park in San Diego and one in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown,, got the Seaver job under the previous Mets owners. He planned to visit New York as often as possible during the process; his first visit actually came last month when the statue was delivered.  

Behrends will be on hand for Friday’s ceremony, as will Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen; Seaver’s widow, Nancy, and their two daughters, Sarah and Anne; and Hall of Famer Mike Piazza.  

The statue, which is two times life size and features Seaver in his iconic drop-and-drive pose, will be located to the right of the Home Run Apple.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Behrends said. “A three-year, tough process. But I hope everybody loves it.”

According to the Mets, the statue is made of 2,000 pounds of bronze and 1,200 pounds of structural stainless steel. It sits on a granite mound that came in nine separate pieces weighing a total of 33,600 pounds. The mound adds approximately three feet in height.

Seaver died in September 2020 of complications from Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 at the age of 75. Behrends never got to meet him.

“When I do a project like this, I get to know the person as well as I can, even if I don’t have the opportunity to meet them and spend time with them,” he said. “I will read everything. I study everything I can get my hands on to really get to feel like I know them. It informs and enriches my process. I’m at heart a portraitist and these are just another form of a portrait that can really convey more than just a baseball player. This is a portrait of a very special baseball player and a very unique man.”

The statue that will be unveiled on Friday is Behrends’ third version. He makes a small model, then a half-sized one, and then the full-sized piece of art that will sit outside Citi Field as long as there is a Citi Field.

Behrends was able to have an in-person visit at his studio with Seaver’s daughter Sarah and Mets president Sandy Alderson before the final touches were put on the statue.

“That was very valuable,” he said. “Her suggestions were good, but also we had a very nice afternoon where she just talked about her father, which was very helpful to me, very informative.”

Behrends’ previous baseball statues are of Giants legends Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda and Gaylord Perry; Padres Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman; and Negro Leagues star Buck O’Neil, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 24.

Behrends was asked if he has a favorite.

“Come Friday,” he said, “I think I will.”

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.