Strawberry walks back comments about Alonso's departure

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Mets legend Darryl Strawberry walked back his recent comments that Pete Alonso will “regret” leaving New York for Baltimore, saying he was referring more to his own situation when he departed the Mets in 1991.

“I was talking about the mistakes that I made of leaving,” Strawberry said Tuesday from Clover Park, where he is serving this week as a guest instructor. “This is not about me and Pete. I love Pete. And I always had hope that he would stick around and be the guy to break all the numbers.”

A day earlier, Strawberry told reporters that “one day,” Alonso “is going to wake up just like I did and regret you didn’t stick where you’re at.” Four months after breaking Strawberry’s franchise home run record with his 253rd career homer, Alonso left the Mets in December on a five-year, $155 million contract with the Orioles. The act was reminiscent of Strawberry’s decision to leave the Mets for the Dodgers on a five-year, $20.25 million contract after the 1990 season.

In Strawberry’s case, he rejected a lesser offer to stay in Flushing. The Mets never made Alonso an offer to stay, according to a source.

Alonso wound up pushing the franchise home run mark to 264, but no further. He fell short of setting RBI and other records that would have been well within his reach had he stayed.

“I ended up with a lot of regrets for leaving,” Strawberry said. “One day, you wake up and you feel that inside of yourself after you’ve played in one place and you were loved by the fans, and then all of the sudden, you’re no longer there. It’s heartbreaking. I was shocked to see the fact that it was going to be over for him -- especially after breaking my home run record that stood for so long, and there were more records that he could have put his name on and been at the top as a player that came through the organization from the bottom up and built his way up.

“I don’t want people to make a big thing out of this. I’m not down here for that. It’s done and it’s over. He’s over there. It’s not a negative thing. I don’t want to make this out as a negative thing. I’m trying to make sure this is a positive thing about his career and coming through the organization and what he accomplished.”

Strawberry, who reached out to Alonso after he set the home run record, has not spoken to him since Alonso signed with Baltimore. But he will be watching closely to see how Alonso’s decision works out.

“Sometimes, you’ve just got to let things go, let him move on, let him move forward with his new club and wish him all the best and success playing in Baltimore,” Strawberry said. “But New York is New York. That’s basically all I was saying: New York is New York.”