PORT ST. LUCIE – As someone who grew up in Tampa and still lives in the region, the past six months have been nirvana for supporter Pete Alonso.
In this stretch, the Stanley Cup and the Lombardi Trophy were raised for the Lightning and the Buccaneers, respectively. And a third professional team in the Tampa area, the Rays, advanced to Game 6 of the World Series.
All of this further sharpened Alonso’s appetite for success in his job as the Mets first baseman. Simply put, Alonso wants to bring a missing piece of hardware to New York – the Commissar’s Trophy.
“The goal for us is to be the last team at the end of the year and to be able to see how busy the city of Tampa was, full of energy and exciting and I can’t wait for that to happen in New York, starting in Queens,” said Alonso on Friday after a team workout.
“Having that excitement, having that energy, having that arrogance, that excitement, this is a privilege and it starts now with attention to details and going out there and competing for real and going there and wanting to win and doing anything for a victory. Being in that kind of environment is a privilege and I can’t wait for that. I hope that all five neighborhoods will turn into a big neighborhood party when we do. “
Alonso followed his historic 2019 season, in which he set an MLB debutant record by blowing up 53 home runs, with a second year slide, if you can call it more than 60 games. In all, he ended up with a respectable .231 / .326 / .490 cut line with 16 homers and 35 RBIs for a team that finished last at NL East.
No one will hope for a return to a full season more than Alonso, who said he was prepared for the marathon, but not necessarily for the sprint.
“Season of sixty games, I can’t put much merit in that because I know it’s difficult,” said Alonso. “Last year was a very abnormal year – not just in baseball, but I think for all of us. This is a year of resilience and I am very happy to be playing 162 this year. “
Alonso fell early last season and showed improvement in mid-August, but the Mets were quarantined for a week after a player and coach tested positive for COVID-19, and the momentum stopped. Alonso started another wave at the end of the season.
“I am very happy that last year happened the way it did, because I feel that I am very prepared for this year and last year I exposed a lot of things that I needed to improve and I am ready to go,” Alonso said. “I’m ready to have fun and go out and play.”
Without the designated universal hitter in place, Alonso will prepare as if he were the first regular baseman. If an agreement to implement universal HD is reached before the season between the MLB and the MLBPA, it could put Dominic Smith defensively higher on first base most of the time, with Alonso in HD.
“I think I’m a very good first-base player and I just want to play for real,” said Alonso. “I am a first base player and a position player. I am not a DH. I don’t want to be labeled like that because I worked hard and I feel that I played well.
“In 2019 I played very well at first base. In 2020 I didn’t have my best year, either in attack or defense, but this year I have a great opportunity and I want to grow as a person and as a player and I feel that I will never consider myself a DH. I will always think of myself as a first-rate man. “
Alonso arrived at the camp last year with the aim of winning a golden glove and ending the season in a float “drunk as hell”. He replied in the affirmative on Friday when asked if he had the same goals for 2021.
“It will be a good year,” said Alonso.