Alonso broke Darryl Strawberry\u2019s franchise record<\/a> for homers in a 13-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves. It wasn\u2019t a laugher all the way; after Alonso smashed No. 252 off Spencer Strider in the third inning, Clay Holmes gave a four-run lead right back.<\/p>\nIt took four more homers \u2014 including Alonso\u2019s 253rd \u2014 to run away with the win, just the second for the Mets in their last 13 games. That\u2019s what the team needed most. With Alonso\u2019s power, the record was inevitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t think about it, because if you force it, then it\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d Alonso said. \u201cIf you just try and win the game, capitalize on pitches, take what the game gives you and you try and win, then the game rewards you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ufeff<\/p>\n
The game has given plenty to Alonso, but he\u2019s had to earn all of it; twice he won the home run derby to earn MLB\u2019s $1 million prize, which was more than his salary both seasons. He was the Mets\u2019 second-round pick in 2016, after they\u2019d selected two long-gone pitchers, Justin Dunn and Anthony Kay.<\/p>\n
The Mets missed on Alonso then \u2014 to be fair, so did everyone else \u2014 and until they sign him long-term, they\u2019re missing on him now, too. Steve Cohen is the richest owner in the major leagues, the most powerful superfan of the orange and blue. No matter the metrics, no matter the market, Alonso is different. That should be obvious by now.<\/p>\n
With hope flickering last October, it was Alonso who saved the Mets with that laser over the right field fence in Milwaukee. His .999 postseason OPS helped carry the Mets within two victories of the World Series, and he\u2019s gone full Polar Bear since: an .880 OPS this season, with 28 homers, 96 RBI \u2014 and no days off since June 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince day one, what I\u2019ve seen from him is a guy that cares so much about winning, cares so much about his teammates and the organization,\u201d said manager Carlos Mendoza, who said the night moved him to tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou appreciate (that) he posts. That\u2019s something, as a manager, you don\u2019t have to worry about who\u2019s playing first base and who\u2019s hitting the middle of your lineup. I think it goes back to understanding what it takes to play here.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s an important intangible, connective tissue between a player and the fans who have watched him grow up in their colors. Through all of the brinkmanship last winter, the Mets and Alonso at least had the sense to not sever that bond.<\/p>\n
\ufeff<\/p>\n
Alonso is the Mets\u2019 version of Aaron Judge, who turned down a long-term contract offer from the Yankees on opening day in 2022, then set the American League single-season home run record. The Yankees rewarded Judge with a forever contract, and now it\u2019s on Cohen and his baseball operations president, David Stearns, to do right by Alonso.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a goal to play baseball until I\u2019m through my age 40 season,\u201d Alonso said, meaning through 2035. \u201cAnd for me, I\u2019m gonna work hard and do that. And you know what? Business side, Steve and David, they\u2019ve got to come through.\u201d<\/p>\n
With their cautious commitment last winter (technically two years and $54 million, though the opt-out after one year is a formality), the Mets essentially challenged Alonso to show them more. Has he shown something in these last four and a half months?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, for sure,\u201d Alonso said. \u201cFor me, I love the city of New York, I love this fan base, it\u2019s been great. But, again, the business is the business side if they choose to go in another direction. But for me, it\u2019s been an absolute treat and pleasure here. This group is really special. This group was one of the biggest reasons why I came back.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only was it the talent, but the people here. Not just on the team, the coaching staff, all the people here that work in the clubhouse, the front office, and obviously the training room. I mean, we\u2019ve just got an incredible group here that has a great purpose. It\u2019s been great playing here \u2014 but, yeah, I hope it doesn\u2019t end.\u201d<\/p>\n
It shouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Alonso can\u2019t make himself any younger, but the special ones sometimes age better than you\u2019d think. And even if Alonso has only, say, five more years as an elite run producer, the Mets must ensure that they come in Flushing.<\/p>\n
Cohen can afford it \u2014 everyone knows that \u2014 and besides, at this point, would you ever want to doubt Pete Alonso? And would you ever want to let your fans lose him?<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to do that in front of this crowd, I mean, it\u2019s just really special,\u201d Alonso said. \u201cI could just feel the support, you could hear it. I mean, it\u2019s electric. It was a dream. It was a wild dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo: Dustin Satloff \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first manager of the New York Mets once lost a job because his bosses thought he was…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":142480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1266,1305,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-142479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-new-york-mets","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115021696685894791","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}