I have a confession to make.

When the Dodgers traveled to New York earlier this month for a three-game series with the Mets at Citi Field – a series for which my son and I also traveled to The Big Apple to visit his sister and my daughter and to take in the three games – I was actually hoping to personally witness 24-year-old Mets first baseman Pete Alonso hit a home run.

Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way a Mets fan, not even a little bit. I am, however, a huge fan of the greatest game in the world and a huge fan of baseball history and records.

At the time, Alonso was sitting on 47 home runs and it was very obvious that he was a very serious threat to top New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge‘s all-time MLB rookie home run record of 52, which the then 25-year-old Linden, CA native set in 2017 and, quite frankly, I wanted to be able to say that I had personally witnessed this significant part of baseball history.

It didn’t happen.

In his nine plate appearances over the three-game set, Alonso went 0-for-7 with two walks and two strikeouts.

During game-1 of the three-game series, Alonso didn’t even start. He did, however, enter the game as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and runners on first and second against future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw – a very dangerous situation any way you slice it. The saving grace is that the Dodgers left-hander had a rather comfortable 7-1 lead at the time, but still…

Kershaw is many things, but one thing he is not is stupid. Rather than giving Alonso anything even remotely close to hit, the crafty left-hander walked him on four pitches to load the bases. Those would be the final four pitches the 31-year-old Dallas, TX native would make on his 106-pitch night.

Kershaw was replaced by Dodgers right-hander Joe Kelly, who got Mets pinch-hitter Brandon Nimmo to hit a comebacker for a 1-2 forceout at the plate. Kelly then gave up a single to Mets shortstop Amed Rosario, allowing Mets first baseman Todd Frazier to score from third base. But an absolute rocket throw by Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger to catcher Will Smith prevented further damage. Kelly then got Mets left fielder J.D. Davis to ground out to Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux to end what could have been a disastrous inning had Kershaw not walked Alonso.

Although it would take another 13 days for Alonso to finally tie Judge’s MLB record of 52 home runs by a rookie, which occurred on Friday night, September 27, off of Atlanta Braves left-hander Dallas Keuchel, it did not take long for the Tampa, FL native and Mets second-round draft pick in 2016 out of the University of Florida to break it. He did so the following night at Citi Field on September 28, 2019, off of Braves right-hander Mike Foltynewicz – a 415-foot solo shot to center field.

Alonso’s record-breaker came with two outs in the bottom of the third inning and actually brought tears to his eyes when he took the field in the top of the fourth inning after a very long – and loud – standing ovation.

“I was just overcome with emotion,” Alonso told Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi after the game. “I can’t describe it. I’ve never felt anything like that. It was just euphoria and magic.

“To be a part of Major League Baseball history, to be number one out of every single guy who played the game, it’s humbling and it’s such a ridiculously awesome feeling,” he added. “That moment was just pure magic.”

Well done, young man. Well done indeed.

Play Ball!

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