“Pete Alonso's had his share of struggles” - Mets legend Darryl Strawberry champions homegrown talent in rivalry vs. Yankees

On Tuesday, Pete Alonso became the new home run king of the New York Mets as he surpassed Darryl Strawberry's 37-year-old record of 252 home runs to lead the franchise. Alonso squared up Spencer Strider's fastball to hit his 253rd home run.

Three innings later, he went deep once again to mark his 254th home run. The Mets' first baseman gave a fitting tribute to Strawberry as well, raising his helmet to acknowledge Strawberry's No. 18 jersey at Citi Field.

One day later, Strawberry appeared on SNY Live to discuss Alonso and his new milestone. He took pride in the fact that the Mets can now even match up to cross-town rivals New York Yankees in terms of nurturing homegrown talent. Alonso, who has played his whole MLB career in Queens, is a great example of that.

"When I was coming through, we had so many young talented players that had a chance to break through with myself and Doc Gooden coming through the organization," Strawberry said (Timestamp- 2:10 onwards).

Strawberry also compared Alonso’s journey to those of past franchise pillars such as David Wright and Mookie Wilson, who were homegrown stars rather than arriving from somewhere else.

"And then, when you see younger players like David Wright, Andrés come through, and then you see Pete come through, guys like that, when you see homegrown players, especially, I mean, because when you look across over in the Bronx, they have nothing but young talent coming through the organization.

"And it’s time for people to start recognizing that the Mets have had some great young players come through their farm system, develop, and become great players at the major league level. ... Pete’s had his share of struggles, just like anybody else, and he’ll tell you that too. But the thing I like about younger players and homegrown players is that they don’t quit, they don't fight. They have a lot of fight in them, and Pete has shown that," he added.

Pete Alonso got emotional after becoming Mets' home run king

Pete Alonso started his MLB journey with the Mets after being selected in the 2016 draft, and he's still with them. Over the years, Alonso has done it all for the Mets, becoming a five-time All-Star (2019, 2022–2025), getting named All-MLB First Team (2019) and NL Rookie of the Year (2019).

Following his home run milestone on Tuesday, Alonso called it a big moment in his career and also revealed that he had tears in his eyes.

“As a kid, you don’t really think that it’s in the realm of possibility to be a franchise home run leader. It’s a wild dream, to be honest, and it’s really special,” Alonso said via CrunchSports.com. "I had tears in my eyes. For how much we’ve been through the past two months, to just live that moment, I think we’ve got to take a step back there and appreciate what you’re experiencing."

Alonso, who signed a two-year, $54 million contract, is having a fine season at the plate, batting .267 with 28 home runs.