Alonso tips helmet to Citi Field
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso stepped up to the plate in the first inning of what could be his final home game at Citi Field and was met by a huge ovation.
“Are you going to tip you cap or something?” Alonso recalled home plate umpire John Libka telling him. “I can give you time right here.”
“Oh, yeah,” Alonso told him. “I was really happy that John reminded me.”
Alonso waved his helmet to the sellout crowd of 43,139, then tapped his helmet to his heart after the first of several standing ovations.
“It’s wild. It’s something you just really — you kind of hear about or read about or kind of see in movies,” Alonso said.
Alonso went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in the Mets’ 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night. With a week left in the season, New York is in position for the second NL wild card and two games ahead of Atlanta for the final postseason berth.
“This what this is what our identity is,” Alonso said. “We fight and scratch for every pitch, every out. A game like today really shows the character and who we are, who the 2024 Mets are.”
Alonso is hitting .244 with 31 homers and 86 RBIs. The 29-year-old has a $20.5 million, one-year contract, can become a free agent after the World Series and is represented by Scott Boras, an agent known for testing the market.
