Pete Alonso broke new ground in bat-shattering technique with a complete split
As baseball players have gotten stronger over the years, we've seen more and more players turn to their best Bo Jackson impressions after a frustrating out. In the flash of an eye, a bat is snapped over the knee like a mere twig.
It's an impressive feat of strength, and we've seen a few variations on it by different players. Most often, you'll see a partial snap, where the bat either fails to break entirely, or is slightly frayed. That's what happened below to Yasiel Puig and Jorge Alfaro.
Yeah, facing deGrom will do this to you pic.twitter.com/ME2pn3UPPf
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2019
Jorge Alfaro breaks his bat over his leg after Drew Steckenrider strikes him out. 😬 @Marlins looking to rally in the 9th.#JustGettinStarted #MLB pic.twitter.com/jfIE8CfAE8
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) August 5, 2018
Sometimes -- as Manny Machado and Chris Davis discovered -- the bat will shatter with a cool splintering, sending wood chips flying everywhere.
To Carlos Gomez's dismay, the bat can even fight back. It won't always break, no matter how much you want it to.
It's easier said than done. A clean break seems nearly impossible.
Never tell Mets slugger Pete Alonso the odds, though. When he whiffed against Giants starter Conner Menez on Sunday afternoon, he was outraged. Furious. Disgusted.
In fact, Alonso was so disgusted that he completely split his bat into two pieces:
This, frankly, is stunning. There's almost always at least some splintering or frayed fragments.
But no. Not with Alonso. Instead, it looked as though the bat was cleanly sawed in two by a carpenter.
Given how far Alonso's homers fly, we already knew that he can do incredible things with a bat in his hands. I just didn't realize what he could do to the bat itself when it betrayed him.
For as wonderful as Alonso is, he kind of scares me. But in a good way. I think. I hope.
Andrew Mearns is a writer for Cut4 whose baseball obsession was born from the shattered dreams of Mike Mussina's perfect game attempt in 2001. He has a startling memory of World Series highlights that barely functions as a party trick.
