POLAR HISTORY

BY MIKE RIFKIN

Gary Cohen said it best on Tuesday night saying “The Polar Bear is on his own private iceberg.” when Pete Alonso homered in bottom of the third inning of the Mets 13-5 win over the division rival Atlanta Braves. Alonso homered twice in the game giving him 254 career home runs, passing Darryl Strawberry for the most in franchise history. There is also some irony in here, when Alonso hit his 53rd home run in 2019, the rookie record that also came at the expense of the Braves, and 200 homers later Alonso makes more history against the Braves.

This Winter Mets fans didn’t know if this moment would come. Alonso was a free agent, and remained on the market for a long time. The Mets and their slugger came to terms on a two year contract (one year plus an option). Since his arrival in 2019 Alonso has embraced the Mets fans and organization similar to another Mets legend, who spent their entire career with the team David Wright. During Wright’s tenure with the team the Mets made big splashes in signing guys like Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez, etc… During Alonso’s tenure the Mets have signed Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. While signing free agents is great, there’s something special about the relationship between the fans and homegrown players. If Steve Cohen wants special nights like Tuesday night, he has to re-sign Alonso and make him a Met for life, and just like Wright before him Alonso’s number 20 will be retired.