Pete Alonso hit his 251st home run for the New York Mets on Monday. He is just one away from tying the franchise record currently held by Daryl Strawberry. While he has developed this slugging aura on the field, off the field and in the clubhouse, the 'Polar Bear' has a different reputation.
A recent feature written by MLB.com's Anthony DiComo documented the many sides of Pete Alonso. As described by his friends, he is a big-time "goober." However, Alonso's childish demeanor is never taken for granted in the Mets team, who have utmost respect for one of the franchise's icons.
One of Alonso's major traits is taking up the all important role of the team's emcee during bus rides, something that he has been doing since the 2021 season after a number of veterans left the club. Mets teammates opened up about the history geek he turns into.
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“He’s actually a history buff, if you didn’t know that,” said longtime teammate Brandon Nimmo. “He knows a lot of fun facts about a lot of cities and can bust it out right off the top of his head.”
DiComo then details two facts relayed by Alonso on their travels. One about Pony Express route to Sacramento and another about city of Atlanta's emblem. Pete Alonso even recalled a niche fact about a bridge in Chicago.
“I don’t know the name of the bridge, but I call it ‘The Dave Matthews S--- Bridge,’” Alonso said, growing animated. “Do you know the story there?”
“So there’s this bridge in Chicago where, you know how they have the tour boats? Dave Matthews’ bus let all of its septic out while it was stopped on the bridge. It let all the septic through the grates that lifted up.
"There was a boat going underneath the bridge, and then it was just gallons and gallons of septic on these tourists. So that’s a thing. There’s actually a plaque to memorialize it there.”
Pete Alonso opens up about his legacy
Pete Alonso suffered a lot in the offseason. Even after having proven his worth, many must have felt Mets' reluctance to sign him long term wasn't something he deserved. But as Alsonso has turnaround year aiming to hit free agency again, he wants his competitiveness to take center stage when his greatness is discussed.
“What I want to be remembered as is a player of substance,” Alonso said. “I just want to be remembered as a guy who plays the game hard, the guy who’s, like, the ultimate competitor. … I want to be known as a guy that performs and plays the game and wins. That’s really it.”
Alonso discussed plans of playing for another ten years before eventually retiring in his age-41 season when his turns 10.
