Darryl Strawberry spoke with reporters on Wednesday in acknowledgement of his No. 18 being retired by the Mets this season (on June 1), and the former New York slugger and World Series champ hopes Pete Alonso’s jersey joins his on the upper deck facing of Citi Field one day.
Alonso, a free agent at the end of this season, has a very real chance to go down as the greatest position player in the history of the franchise, and the greatest homegrown slugger the Mets have produced since Strawberry.
Strawberry, the franchise record holder in home runs, hopes Alonso doesn’t end up like he did in 1990, regretting the decision to leave the Mets for his hometown Dodgers in free agency.
“I just hope he reaches a point, and they reach a point as an organization, and come together to keep him there,” Strawberry said. “Let him be the player he has been. Let him break all the records. Records are meant to be broken.
“I hope players break my record. That means I’ve done something, and that you’ve done something to. And he has done that. He has performed at that level.”
Alonso is 60 home runs away from Strawberry’s team record, and if he signs a long-term deal to remain in New York, he certainly will surpass the beloved Met. Strawberry is rooting for that outcome, having experienced the pain of missing New York after believing greener pastures awaited elsewhere.
“You just hope they work it out,” Strawberry said. “You leave a guy open like that…they left the door open for me. Yes, I ended up leaving, and I just hope Pete doesn’t leave, because I ended up personally with a belly full of regrets from leaving, because there is nothing like playing in New York. There’s nothing like the atmosphere and the fans.”