NEW YORK -- Several minutes after Pete Alonso hit his 253rd career home run, becoming the only player in Mets history to reach that number, Citi Field’s oversized scoreboard cut to a shot of him at first base. A paid crowd of 39,748 had already spent some time serenading Alonso, chanting his name and celebrating him during a curtain call.
When the camera zoomed in on his face, Alonso took his cap in his right hand and raised it to the sky. Then the chants began anew.
That was how Alonso spent his first moments as the Mets’ home run king -- a title that, until Tuesday, Darryl Strawberry had held exclusively for 37 years. Alonso’s march to the franchise record finally ended at 7:57 p.m. ET, when he lined a Spencer Strider fastball into the visiting bullpen to pass Strawberry for good. Three innings later, he added No. 254 in a 13-5 rout of the Braves.
“As a kid, you don’t really think that it’s in the realm of possibility to be a franchise home run leader,” Alonso said. “It’s a wild dream, to be honest. And it’s really special.”
As he trotted around the bases following his milestone homer, Alonso broke into a wide grin. Upon reaching home, he wrapped Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil -- two of the three teammates who have been present his entire career -- in bear hugs. He then removed his helmet and raised both arms to the sky, gazing at the tens of thousands of fans saluting him with a standing ovation.
By that point, Alonso’s other teammates and coaches had poured onto the field, where they took turns embracing him.
“You’ve got to work hard at it in order to get a standing ovation here,” Nimmo said. “He definitely deserved it in that moment.”
Alonso eventually made his way into the dugout, then up to the top step, where he indulged in a curtain call. Only after all that did he settle into a pose along the dugout rail, spending the rest of the inning parked there with a wistful smile on his face.
“You watch that face and how much joy he had … it was hard to describe the face of Pete there,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He was just enjoying the moment. It meant a lot to him.”
That Alonso broke the record in 965 career games -- 141 fewer than Strawberry -- is a testament to his power-hitting prowess, his ability to stay healthy and his long tenure in Queens. Though he could have departed after last season, Alonso chose to return on a two-year, $54 million contract with an opt-out after 2025. That gave him a prime opportunity to smash Strawberry’s record.
As Alonso remained healthy into the midsummer months, running his consecutive games-played record up to 373 and counting, the only question became whether he would become the home run king at home or on the road. After tying Strawberry in Milwaukee last weekend, Alonso was hoping the milestone would occur at Citi Field, so he could celebrate it in proper fashion. That he wound up homering twice in a blowout win proved to be a double bonus.
The victory, which included a pair of Francisco Alvarez home runs, a tiebreaking three-run shot from Nimmo and six total homers, snapped the Mets’ seven-game losing streak. It also wiped away at least some of the disappointment of the team’s recent poor play. During a break in play late in the game, the Mets announced on the scoreboard that they had run out of fireworks. Alonso was a big part of that.
“For how much we’ve been through the past two months,” Mendoza said, “to just live that moment, I think we’ve got to take a step back there and appreciate what we experienced.”
Alonso now has a chance to push the record well out of reach for future generations -- provided he sticks around Flushing long term. As far as franchise home run marks go, the new record of 254 is not particularly steep. Only the Diamondbacks and Padres have lower totals.
Yet before Alonso, few players threatened Strawberry’s record, in large part because almost no one spent enough time in Queens to do it. The highest-profile exception, David Wright, was on pace to pass Strawberry before back, neck and shoulder injuries cut short his career. Wright finished with 242 homers, good for third place on the Mets’ list. Others, including Mike Piazza and Carlos Beltrán, spent more than half their careers elsewhere. Outside of Alonso, no active Mets player has more than 131 homers with the franchise.
Alonso’s decision to re-sign made him an anomaly -- at least for now. With the opt-out in his contract, Alonso is likely to reenter free agency this offseason. If he ends up elsewhere, he will leave the Mets’ home run record in a vulnerable place. If he sticks around, he can potentially make it stand for decades.
“There’s only one organization that you’re drafted by,” Nimmo said. “There’s only one organization that you come up with and that you set these marks with. To have to restart is not something that everyone wants to do.”
Asked about his upcoming decision, Alonso referred to Mets owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns as the engines capable of making a long-term contract happen. The truth is that right here, with the Mets enmeshed in the beginnings of a heated playoff race, Alonso doesn’t know what next season will bring. Nor does he know how far he’ll be able to take the record if he stays in Queens.
All Alonso knows, as he put it, is that “there’s only one way to find out.”