A Farewell for Pete Alonso

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“He did it! He did it!” Mets radio announcer Howie Rose exclaims as Pete Alonso circles the bases. “Pete Alonso with the most memorable home run of his career!”

Alonso, of course, hit a three-run home run off Devin Williams in the top of the ninth inning at Milwaukee with the Mets trailing 2-0. New York was two outs away from seeing their 2024 season end in the Wild Card round.

“Pete Alonso keeps this fairy tale season going with the fairy tale swing of his career!” Rose said.

Alonso provided a wealth of wonderful memories for Mets fans in his seven years in the blue and orange, starting with his rookie season when he belted 53 home runs, topping Aaron Judge‘s all-time rookie mark by one. That summer, he also participated in the Home Run Derby and revealed a piece of advice on how to conserve energy in an interview before the contest.

“It doesn’t matter how much jelly’s in the jar, it matters how you spread it on your English muffin,” he said.

I don’t quite get it, but all that matters is it worked for Alonso. He won the derby, beating Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the final. At season’s end, he was named National League Rookie of the Year.

Alonso made the All-Star team five times. He won the derby again in 2021, outslugging Trey Mancini 23-22 in the final at Coors Field. He led the major leagues in RBIs in 2022 with 131, which also set a single-season Mets record. He drove in 118 or more runs four times. He ranks first, second, fifth and seventh on the franchise’s all-time, single-season RBI leaderboard.

He hit five walk-off home runs. The first finished off the Yankees on Sept. 3, 2020, on the day the news broke that Tom Seaver had passed away. The last one beat the Rangers in September of this year.

This past Aug. 12, he hit the most anticipated home run of his career. Alonso’s two-run shot off the Braves’ Spencer Strider was his 253rd and broke Darryl Strawberry‘s franchise record, which was set in 1990. For good measure, Alonso added another home run later in the game. He leaves the Mets with 264.

The Mets selected Alonso in the second round of the 2016 draft out of the University of Florida. Todd Frazier stuck him with the nickname Polar Bear in spring training in 2019.

He went 1-for-4 in his MLB debut against the Nationals and 1-for-4 in his last game at a Met against the Marlins on Sept. 28.

He was robbed of a bid for one more great memory in that final game. With the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning, Alonso lined a ball at 116 mph off the bat, but it was caught by Javier Sanoja in left field. He opted out of the last year of his contract after the game.

“I’ve grown up in this organization and what I’ve done here I’m really proud of the mark I’ve left,” he said. “I want to be the best teammate and the best player I possibly can be, not just for the people here but for the franchise and for the fans. Yeah it’d be great (to stay in New York), but we’ll see what happens.”

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