BEWARE POLAR BEAR WITH BAT
Pete Alonso so far this season has obliterated thee all-time Mets club records.
On May 6, 1983 Darryl Strawberry makes his major league debut. He proceeds to both hit a Mets rookie record 26 home runs over his next 121 regular season games and drive in a record 74 runs en route to winning N.L. Rookie of the Year honors.
Rewind seven years and back in 1976 Dave Kingman sets the club record for most round trippers before the All-Star break amassing 30 home runs just 88 games into the season.
Then along comes Pete Alonso. Sure he dominated all of triple-A last season in home runs and RBI. But no one can say with a straight face they saw this coming. For in less than 100 games as a major league player the man has shattered Mets records which have stood for over three and four decades respectively.
On June 23, 2019 Pete Alonso breaks Strawberry's Mets rookie record with home run #27 in just the 77th game of his career. On July 17, 2019 at Minnesota, Alonso hits his 31st home run of the season breaking Kingman's record for most home runs before the All-Star break (accomplishing the feat in 94 games played). And on July 20, 2019 at San Francisco, Alonso drives in three runs giving him 75 for the season, and thus breaking Darryl Strawberry's Mets record for RBI in a season by a rookie. Alonso accomplishes the feat in just 97 games played, an impressive 25 games less than it took Strawberry. Most remarkable of all is that ten days still remain before the month of July expires.
As of close of business Sunday, Pete Alonso is slashing .267/.359/.615/.974, with 56 extra base hits, 33 home runs, and 75 RBI, through 97 games and 356 at-bats. He hit his 33rd home run this past Saturday while appearing as a pinch-hitter against the Giants at San Francisco. He also sports a 3.6 WAR and 28 RAA (runs better than avg.) The next Mets game will be their 100th of the season, leaving 62 games for Alonso to potentially wreak havoc on National League pitching like Godzilla going through Tokyo.
Mets All-Time Single Season Leaders:
- Home Runs: 41 (Todd Hundley '96; Beltran '06).
- RBI: 124 (Mike Piazza '99; David Wright '08).
- Slugging: .614 (Mike Piazza '00).
- OPS: 1.024 (Mike Piazza '98).
- Total Bases: 334 (David Wright '08)
The Polar Bear may not achieve all the magic numbers. But the time certainly has come for us to leave behind the discussion of most prolific hitting rookie born of the Mets system, and begin contemplating what may turn into the most prolific all around Mets season ever. Alonso is just eight home runs, 49 runs batted in, and 115 total bases from tying the club's aforementioned milestones. He is presently on pace to hit 55 home runs, drive in 125 runs, and tally 366 total bases according to Baseball-Reference 162 game average.
Grrrr...!
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