The Mets concluded a 4-2 road trip on Sunday in Oakland with a convincing 13-4 victory in the rubber game of their matchup with the Athletics. Similar to what’s happened for the majority of this season, Pete Alonso had a hand in the destruction.
Alonso registered four hits with a home run, three runs scored, and five RBI. It was the fourth time he recorded a five-RBI performance in 2022. This one was a little extra special, though, as he broke the franchise’s single-season RBI record in the process. He did it in classic Polar Bear fashion, too — with a 451-foot tank.
Pete Alonso already has three seasons of 30-plus homers and two seasons of 120-plus RBI under his belt. That man is a good one. Hope he sticks around for a long time. #Mets #LGM (via @SNYtv) pic.twitter.com/zDufUlUK09
— Matt Musico (@mmusico8) September 26, 2022
Between that, Ron Darling groaning at the mere sight of this shot, and Gary Cohen’s “Forget That!” home run call, this was just an excellent series of events.
Alonso added three more RBI on a bases-loaded double later in the game, tying him with Aaron Judge for the MLB lead with 128 (prior to Monday night’s action). The previous Mets RBI record was shared by David Wright (2008) and Mike Piazza (1999), who each drove in 124 runs.
The stage was set for New York’s first baseman to break this record with Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, and Francisco Lindor typically occupying the lineup spots in front of him. But still, he had to do the job and actually drive the runs in. This is Alonso’s fourth big-league campaign (the third full one since 2020 was just 60 games long). He’s already etched his name into Mets history on a number of occasions.
It started immediately upon his arrival with his franchise-record 53 home runs as a rookie in 2019. He’s slugged 145 dingers since his debut, which is the most in baseball. However, that number is already the seventh-highest mark in Mets history. The 27-year-old is just four dingers away from passing Carlos Beltran for sixth all-time, and he’s nine away from passing Dave Kingman for fifth.
New York has had the pleasure of watching some powerful performances throughout the organization’s history. What Alonso has done thus far is pretty rare overall, though, especially when considering he’s a homegrown player.
While Lindor and Alonso have both anchored the Mets’ lineup this year, it’s the first baseman who is the centerpiece of this offense. Why? Well, because he’s the premiere power threat. He’s only suited up for 523 games with New York and is already doing things not many others have done in franchise history.
There have been just 29 seasons of 100-plus RBI from a Mets hitter in history, so to be at the top of that food chain is quite the honor. Here’s where Alonso sets himself apart from the pack, though. There have been five campaigns of at least 120 RBI for the Mets. New York’s current first baseman owns two of them:
- Pete Alonso (2022): 128 RBI (…and counting)
- David Wright (2008) and Mike Piazza (1999): 124
- Robin Ventura (1999) and Alonso (2019): 120
As we can see here, he’s the only hitter in Mets history to post multiple seasons of at least 120 rib-eye steaks. That in itself is a distinguished honor… but it gets better.
At the moment, there have been just four seasons of 40-plus homers in franchise history. This includes Alonso’s 53 in ’19, along with 41 by Beltran in 2006, 41 by Todd Hundley in 1996, and 40 by Piazza in 1999. With 39 so far this season, Polar Bear’s next homer will make him the only player in Mets history with multiple 40-homer efforts.
Yea, the Mets have never had a power hitter quite like Alonso in their lineup for a prolonged period of time. He’s shown his value to the organization, which should find a way to keep him around for the foreseeable future. Alonso currently has two arbitration years remaining before a potential trip to free agency.
Even if he just sticks around in Queens for three more seasons beyond 2022, his current dinger pace could place him atop the Mets’ all-time home run leaderboard. Either way, Lindor is probably right about Alonso — the best is yet to come for the right-handed slugger.
More on ESNY:
• Aroldis Chapman’s immediate Yankees future is reportedly uncertain
• Mets’ Francisco Lindor sees big things ahead for Pete Alonso
• Nets’ Kevin Durant addresses trade request, wants ‘championship culture’
• Adam Ottavino has proven to be huge piece of Mets’ bullpen
• Mets-Athletics series in review: 2 blowout wins sandwiched around a loss
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
