Evan: Pete Alonso home run saved his Mets career

Pete Alonso's heroic three-run home run off superstar closer Devin Williams in Thursday's winner-take-all game in Milwaukee obviously saved the Mets season.

But Evan Roberts says it also saved much more than that.

Given how Alonso's contract season was going, and even how game three was unfolding for the struggling slugger, Evan believed he and thousands of frustrated Mets fans were witnessing the end of the homegrown slugger's time in Queens.

"When Pete Alonso walked to the plate with the Mets trailing by two runs in the top of the ninth, I honestly thought there was no coming back for Pete," Evan said. "He dropped a popup a few innings earlier, he continued to struggle offensively. I thought to myself, 'I don't know how I can turn on my microphone as a Pete defender and talk my fellow Mets fans into bringing him back.' I thought it was too far gone.

"His career in New York City was saved. I don't think he was coming back, or there was any coming back from him bouncing into a double play or striking out. Instead, he delivered - in my humble opinion - in my lifetime, the greatest home run ever hit by a Met in postseason play."

It could have been the final at-bat of Alonso's career with the Mets, the only team he has ever known as a major leaguer. Instead, it was arguably the most memorable Mets at-bat since their last World Series title in 1986, and it could have resuscitated Alonso's chances of returning in 2025 and beyond.

Of course, Alonso and the Mets still have more work to do in 2024, thanks to Alonso's improbable home run.

"I don't know where this season is going...but I can promise you this...no matter who you are, I promise you that the emotions you felt during that at-bat, you're never gonna forget it," Evan said. "That's the beauty of sports.

"I started shaking. I screamed at the bloody top of my lungs. It was like this out-of-body experience."