New York Mets: Pete Alonso is “geeked up to play”

Major League Baseball season was supposed to begin on March 26. Today is July 8, and it still hasn’t started. A series of unfortunate events, first the COVID-19 (which is still happening, to be fair) and then an ugly negotiation between owners and players delayed the calendar, but after months of speculation, the action will return on July 23. New York Mets‘ slugger Pete Alonso wanted to make sure it’s real, and grabbed some Citi Field dirt upon returning to training camp.

“I’ve found such a higher appreciation for this game, for this opportunity,” Alonso said several days later in a Zoom interview. “I loved what I did before, but now with this hiatus and everything that’s going on … I have just this love affair with baseball, and it’s made my love for it grow even more.”

Alonso, the Mets face on and off the field, said he is “geeked up to play.” He looks ready to roll, and teammate J.D. Davis even said that he looks capable of hitting 30 home runs in the shortened 30-game calendar.

The Mets’ de facto spokesman

The New York Mets first baseman has ascended to superstar status and city hero in just over a year. Last season, in his rookie year, he led the majors with 53 home runs, and off the field, he has shown a passion to help whenever and wherever he can. He is the team’s spokesperson and leader.

“I’m very proud in how he carries himself,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said, “very proud in how he represents the team everywhere, on and off the field.”

And while Alonso is known to embrace human contact here and there (remember him ripping off Michael Conforto’s shirt after a dramatic walk-off last season, or chest-bumping Noah Syndergaard?) he knows that the rules are changing, at least for this year, due to fears of COVID-19 spreading. There won’t be fans in the stands of Citi Field, or any other stadium at least initially, but Alonso will make an impact anyway.

“I know that every single New York Met fan is going to be watching at home,” Alonso said. “You can have hundreds of thousands of people, putting a smile on their faces every single night. … I feel like right now, as a whole, people need something to lean on, to help cope.

“I know we’re not going to be able to do the chest bumps, the pregame handshake rituals and the ripping shirts off after walk-off wins, but we’ll figure something out. I mean, we have a really good chemistry. We’ve got some good things going in the clubhouse and we’ll figure something out. … You’ll see some pretty fun antics during the season.”

The Mets have lots of things to celebrate, and Alonso will be in the middle of everything.