New York Mets fans adore Pete Alonso’s efforts to communicate with teammates by learning Spanish: "Name him Captain" "How can you not love Pete?" 

In case New York Mets fans needed another reason to love Pete Alonso, they got one. A story by MLB.com's Anthony DiComo published on Wednesday highlighted the efforts of the Mets first baseman to learn Spanish in order to better commmunicate with his teammates.

According to the story, Alonso's efforts trace back to 2016, when he was playing Class A ball for the Mets' minor league affiliate in Brooklyn and noticed the difficulties in communication between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking players.

In the years since, Alonso has worked at achieving fluency. It's something his teammates have come to appreciate.

As Alonso's bilingual shortstop, Francisco Lindor, told DiComo:

"I appreciate that he’s trying to find a way to interact with us."

It's something that fans of Pete Alonso have also come to appreciate, as noted by the responses to DiComo's Twitter post regarding the story. Entering his fifth season with the Mets, Alonso has become a clear fan favorite among the blue-and-orange faithful.

For reasons beyond the comprehension of the typical Mets fan, the feelings that many people outside of the Big Apple have regarding Alonso range from overrated to downright hatred. He has been called "vulgar" and a "dork" and is roundly booed in opposing ballparks – although mostly in the home stadiums of direct rivals such as the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves.

Alonso, who turned 28 this offseason, said in a 2020 ESPN story that he had been bullied for much of his life, and that it was a torment he had to overcome to be an MLB superstar. He now works with anti-bullying groups in an attempt to save other young people from facing the same problems he did. Mets fans swear by the fact that Alonso is a class human being.

But, of course, there's rivalry. And most likely, Braves fans won't pay too much attention to Pete Alonso's efforts to communicate with his Mets teammates. Either way, Atlanta will just want to beat New York.

Pete Alonso will have a big say in Mets' chances of success in 2023

NL All-Star Pete Alonso of the New York Mets competes in the 2022 T-Mobile Home Run Derby.

Pete Alonso burst upon the big leauges in 2019, leading the majors with 53 home runs as well as logging 120 RBIs in winning the National League Rookie of the Year award. He hit 16 homers and had 35 RBIs in a pandemic-shortened 2020 season, though his batting average dipped from .260 to .231.

His batting average has rebounded in the past two seasons, and he carries a .261 career average into 2023 after leading the majors with 131 RBIs in 2022.