Pete Alonso remembers a year ago just battling for a spot on the Mets' big-league roster. He had no idea that in the months to come, he'd make history.
"I just wanted to, like, hopes up high, head down low. Meaning I wanted to do everything I could to make the team," the Mets slugger recalled during an interview Friday with WFAN's Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts from spring training in Port St. Lucie, Florida. "I wanted to produce. I wanted to lay it all out there basically. Don't leave anything to chance. I feel like I was relentless in spring training last year."
Alonso not only made the team for opening day, he went on to hit a major league rookie record 53 home runs, which also topped all MLB players last season. He batted .260 with 120 RBIs en route to being voted National League Rookie of the Year.
"I just wanted to take it day by day, and as everything unfolded, it was just kind of a 'holy crap' type of feeling throughout the year," he said. "Because for me, I was just as much along the ride as everybody else. It was crazy 'cause during games, it would just almost be like an out-of-body experience.
"It's so much fun out there," Alonso added. "This is a dream job, for sure."
But can he match that type of production in his sophomore season?
"I just want to focus on the same thing, be the same guy as last year," Alonso said. "Baseball's a crazy game, and a ball can bounce one way or the other, and a call could go one way or the other. So the results can fluctuate a little bit. But for me, I want to be the same guy, have the same process, have the same attitude. And hard work works and preparation works, and I feel like I'm not the only one that thinks that way. All the guys in that clubhouse think that way."
To listen to the interview with Alonso, click on the audio player above.
