MILWAUKEE — For much of the night, it felt as though the Mets season was coming to a close. A few days after celebrating on the field in Atlanta, of all places, to make it to the Wild Card round against the Milwaukee Brewers last October, the Mets appeared to be headed toward yet another early offseason.
But in the top of the ninth, there was hope and there was momentum. Most importantly, there were runners on the corners with one out, and Pete Alonso coming to the plate to face closer Devin Williams with the Mets down 2-0.
Howie Rose, the Mets’ Hall-of-Fame play-by-play voice, said what many were thinking: “This may be his last Mets at-bat; he could make it his most memorable.”
Everyone knows what happened next: Alonso drove a 3-1 changeup over the right field fence for a three-run homer, and the Mets went on to win 4-2. They eliminated the Brewers, then the Philadelphia Phillies, en route to their first NLCS appearance since 2015.
In what could have been his final days with the only team he had ever known, the slugger hit arguably one of the most important home runs in franchise history last October.
“We’re almost on our way home,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. “Then before you know it, we’re spraying champagne all over because of Pete.”
This weekend, he’ll go into Milwaukee with a chance to make history all over again, only two home runs shy of passing Darryl Strawberry for franchise lead. Once again, the Mets season feels as though it’s on the brink, with the Mets having lost eight of their last nine games.
And once again, Alonso could be headed toward free agency.
This time, there are still a few more months and a lot of baseball left to be played before the Polar Bear has to decide whether or not he’ll pick up his player option for 2026.
With the Mets in Milwaukee for a three-game series against the league-best Brewers, Alonso and others look back on his historic home run with the possibility of another two being hit over that yellow railing this weekend.
‘I BLACKED OUT’
It hadn’t been a great season for Alonso. There were 172 strikeouts, the second-most of his career, and a career-low .788 OPS. A homegrown hero who had enjoyed immense popularity with the Mets since setting a record for home runs with 53 as a rookie in 2019, Alonso spent the season fielding questions about his future while being unable to produce as he did in the past.
He was 0-for-3 to that point in the game.
“As a broadcast, you have to set up what could be a dramatic moment, and it was right out in front of us,” Rose recently told the Daily News. “The situation was such that, you knew what Pete had meant to the Mets. You knew it was being framed as his potentially last played appearance as a Met, and he wasn’t, at that point, going out on a great note.”
Left-hander David Peterson was warming up on the mound in the bullpen. When the phone rang, manager Carlos Mendoza told bullpen coach Jose Rosado that Peterson would have the ninth. Not that he would have ninth if the Mets tied, or if they went ahead, Mendoza simply said the inning belonged to Peterson.
“I was like, ‘Something is about to happen,’” Peterson said. “Just those words, I was like, ‘There’s something coming.’”
The Mets were digging in, battling Williams and forcing him to throw all of his pitches. He threw eight to Francisco Lindor to lead off the inning with a walk. Mark Vientos struck out on four, and Brandon Nimmo went down 0-2 on two changeups before hitting the third to right field for a single.
“How else would you write this script?” Peterson said.
Those 15 pitches showed Alonso what he had to work with.
“Watching the three guys hit in front of me, Devin already had a lot of work on him. A lot of quality at-bats, tough at-bats,” Alonso said. “Even for me, he had to work. I made him work. He made some good pitches, and then had to come into the zone.”
Alonso swung, and connected.
Peterson remembers thinking to himself the ball had a chance. Taylor remembers he was still thinking the season could be over until he saw the trajectory of the ball. Alonso, however, remembers next to nothing.
“I kind of just blacked out from excitement,” Alonso said. “That was probably the most excited I’ve been for a team win.”
The Mets leapt from the dugout, something that doesn’t often happen when a game is still going, but everyone was so eager to congratulate their first baseman. Dave Racaniello, one of the bullpen catchers, was jumping up and down behind the outfield wall, pumping his fist in the air.
“When it went over the fence, the entire bullpen erupted,” Peterson said. “Then, I remember Rac looked at me and said, ‘We’ve still got work to do.’ It was funny because if you go back and look at the replay, he was one of the guys that was most ecstatic.”
Alonso doesn’t remember rounding the bases, he doesn’t remember being congratulated by Nimmo or hugged by Lindor at home plate. He barely remembers the guys high-fiving him and chest-bumping him on the field.
It was almost as if he came to once he remembered the inning wasn’t over. By then, there were two outs, Jesse Winker was on second and came home on an RBI single by Starling Marte, dramatically smashing his helmet at home plate, punctuating a two-run lead.
“I just blacked out,” Alonso said. “I saw Jesse slide and Gronk-spike his helmet, then it’s almost like I don’t remember anything, until I got the last out. Petey came in, threw the rock and that was pretty much it. It’s just kind of little flashes.”
Despite his own heroics, it was Peterson that Alonso made an effort to recognize. A starting pitcher the Mets used as a reliever in the postseason, Peters earned his first save in the game.
“My adrenaline was up, probably about as high as it gets,” Peterson said. “It’s funny, I knew, I was closing the game, I knew we had a chance and I was in a position to end the game for us to clinch and move on. But I didn’t realize it was my first save until after the game, when Pete gave me the ball and said, ‘Hey, congrats on your first save.’”
A genuine gesture by a genuine human.
‘HE DID IT!”
Rose instantly became the eyes of the fans back in New York.
“It’s so pure, what happens in a situation like that,” Rose said. “Unless you try to get too cute, and that moment didn’t call for cute. What happens is that ball goes over the wall, you have your visceral reaction, as I did, and then you just turn into a reporter, because it was such a monumental moment that you need — especially as a radio broadcaster — to document verbally everything you.”
A clip that instantly went viral, Rose gave Mets fans a call they’ll never forget.
“It’s gone! He did it! He did it! Pete Alonso, with the most memorable home run of his career,” Rose exclaimed, as Alonso circled the bases, giving a chef’s kiss motion to the crowd as his teammates leapt from the dugout.
It was played over the speakers of the team’s charter plane before they departed for Philadelphia. This moment was one Alonso remembers vividly, touching his heart as he recalls seeing Rose board the plane.
“Oh my god, hearing Howie’s call was really, really special,” Alonso said. “It’s such an iconic call.”
It would be one of the final calls of Bob Uecker’s career, as the Brewers’ longtime play-by-play voice passed away in January. This, too, holds meaning for Alonso.
“I know people are going to remember that because it was the last one,” Alonso said. “It’s part of baseball history.”
‘SIGN THAT MAN’
Mets fans have made it clear that they want Alonso to be in orange and blue for life. Alonso has said he’d love to finish his career with the Mets. Alonso has a player option for 2026 for $24 million, but with the way he’s playing this season, he’s almost assuredly going to opt out to try for the long-term contract he sought last winter.
“Gotta sign that man,” Taylor told The News. “The fans love him and we all love him. He’s a great teammate, a great guy and a great baseball player. I think he’s meant a lot, you’ve got to sign him.”
The timing of this home run chase is coming at a strange time. The Mets are in second place behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East after spending much of the season on top of the leaderboard. Coming off one of their worst games of the season, fans want to see someone fired and held accountable for an underperforming roster.
One swing from Alonso could change everything. It could change the momentum for the better, change the vibes around the team and finally, give fans something to cheer about after two weeks of booing their own. Whether it happens in Milwaukee or in New York, it won’t change anything about how the Mets feel about Alonso.
His place in Mets history has already been cemented.
“He’s one of the heartbeats of this organization,” Peterson said. “Being a homegrown guy and having the impact that he’s had offensively and defensively, he means a lot to his team. It’s cool to see a guy like that, especially with the attitude that he has of wanting to win, and caring so much about his teammates. That makes it even more special.
“It’s good to see a guy like that have all the success that he’s had, and that he’s going to have.”
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