Pete Alonso pens ultimate redemption story with season-saving home run
The narratives were writing themselves, and it wasn't good for Pete Alonso.
The Mets slugger, seemingly nearing the end of an underwhelming season, was hitless in Thursday's elimination game and had just dropped a pop foul that ended with Brewers fans laughing in his face along the first base line before stepping to the plate with one out in the top of the ninth.
New York had runners at the corners, just like it did a night before, when Alonso bounced into an inning-ending double play and tripped over his own bat in the process. Swarms of Mets fans, frustration boiling over for months when it came to their homegrown slugger and pending free agent, imagined the season ending with another double play, fittingly painful for a franchise slim on October magic, and for a player not-so-quietly still searching for his big moment.
Instead, Alonso took a 3-1 Devin Williams changeup to right field, and when it landed, angry social media posts were furiously deleted, months of frustration vanished, and one of the most decorated sluggers in franchise history had his signature moment.
After hearing for weeks, even months, about his inability to come through in the clutch, and his botched free agency, Alonso suddenly owned one of the biggest home runs in Mets history, sending New York to the ALDS with a three-run home run, the first go-ahead blast in MLB history in which a player's team was trailing in the ninth inning or later of a winner-take-all game.
"Man, it was just really special," Alonso said on the field after the game. "I'm just so happy to come through for the team right there.
"This is something that you practice in the backyard as a kid. I'm just happy to come through for the boys. We worked really hard all year. I had some great at-bats in front of me. Really happy I got to come through for the team right there."
Alonso had been waiting to come through in a big spot for the Mets for quite some time. It didn't happen against Atlanta at the end of the regular season, when a postseason spot was on the line. It didn't happen during the first two games of this Wild Card Series. Many believed it was never coming. Many wish him good riddance as he entered the ninth inning hitless in the decisive game three. But narratives change quickly, and by becoming just the sixth player to take a Williams changeup out of the park, all the negativity around Alonso vanished. The underwhelming performance in a contract year, gone. The questions about his future in Queens, silenced. Instead, the only debate around Alonso is where his heroic blast ranks among the biggest moments in Mets history.
It was the ultimate redemption moment for a homegrown Met that will now be remembered forever.
"It's unbelievable," Alonso said. "I'm so excited to celebrate with my team. So happy for this organization. Everyone has worked so hard this year. This has been unbelievable. What a ride."
