Mets first baseman Pete Alonso wore a pair of custom cleats to commemorate the 18th anniversary of 9/11 earlier this season. Alonso, instead of keeping the cleats for his own memory, is sending them to be publically displayed at the "September 11 Memorial and Museum."
Alonso will reportedly gift the museum with the piece of equipment on Oct. 1, nearly three weeks removed from its debut in the Mets' 9-0 win against the Diamondbacks. The cleats bear the colors of the American flag as well as the New York City skyline while paying tribute to first responders.
Pete Alonso orchestrated the Mets' wearing of commemorative 9/11-themed cleats tonight.He planned it for weeks, ordered & paid for everybody's shoes and enlisted other clubhouse leaders (including Jacob deGrom) to get everyone on board. pic.twitter.com/fiJbYCU8mq
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) September 12, 2019The 24-year-old revealed that developing the customized cleats for himself as well as his Mets' teammates was a way to get around the "red tape" involving the MLB's rejection of wearing first responder hats. He opted to go a different route and didn't wait for the league's approval this time around.
"For me, I come from a place where I want to show support," Alonso told reporters on Sept. 11. "Not just to the victims, but the families as well because nobody knows how deep those emotional scars can be. Living here, just kind of interacting with everybody, I've tried to immerse myself -- just kind of the New York living. I just want to show recognition to all the people who are heroes. Just ordinary people that felt a sense of urgency and an admirable call of duty. This is for all those people who lost their lives and all those people who did so much to help."
Neither Alonso nor the Mets received a punishment from the MLB for going through with the idea without its permission. Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre provided reasoning to why the Mets weren't allowed to wear hats first-responder hats.
"We're pretty stingy when it comes to allowing one team to do it, because it's only fair to the other 29," Torre said, via The New York Post. "Anything that we allow, because unfortunately every day there's something personal in every part of the country. We certainly are sensitive to it and we've allowed a lot of recognition of stuff that people have had to deal with ... The only problem is - and obviously I'm sensitive to 9/11, there's no question about it - but what's not important to do something different?"
The initiative made a significant impression on Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association (PBA), who wrote a letter commending the Mets' slugger for his "leadership in organizing the Mets' team tribute to the heroes of 9/11" in a "simple, but moving gesture of support."
Alonso's cleats are one of the few notable Mets items to take residence at the museum. The jersey that Mets Hall of Famer Mike Piazza wore during his iconic two-run home run 10 days after the tragedy was initially on display, despite being purchased at a private sale in 2016.
