The first baseman of the New York Mets, Pete ‘Polar Bear’ Alonso, is at the very tip of the iceberg for absolute greatness. On Tuesday, Sept. 27, the 2019 Home Run Derby Champion blasted his 40th home run into the left-field seats at Citi Field against the Marlins. With a pair of runners on base, Alonso swung on a 3-2 changeup thrown from Miami’s Pablo Lopez. Trailing by four runs in the fourth inning, it was only fitting that he historically sparked the Mets’ offense to life. He became the first player in New York Mets’ franchise history to record multiple seasons with 40 home runs.
“That’s really, really cool. I didn’t know that,” Alonso said in an interview with MLB. “That’s really special… I’m just happy that I’m feeling really good at this time of year, especially when we’re playing meaningful games at this time.”
In 2019, Alonso set a franchise record with 53 home runs in his rookie season. He also set a new record for the Mets with 125 RBIs in a single season. Accordingly, Alonso was named National League’s Co-Player of the Week along with St. Louis Cardinals’ slugger Albert Pujos for the week of Sept. 19.
Alonso’s slugging partner in crime Francisco Lindor, a shortstop switch-hitter, has become a powerful combination in run production. So far the duo leads the leagues with 238 RBIs, the most of any two teammates.
The Polar Bear isn’t the only animal on the field. Second baseman, Jeff McNeil, known in the fan base as ‘The Flying Squirrel,’ has had quite the year. With a batting average of .326, he won the 2022 National League Batting Champion when he strung together eight multi-hit games during a nine-game stretch. The two-time All-star secured the second batting title in franchise history and the first since 2011. He has the sixth-highest qualified average in the 61 years of Mets baseball.
The Mets’ September success doesn’t end there as red-hot Eduardo Escobar won NL Player of the Month. According to Sports Illustrated FanNation, the third baseman slashed .340/.393/.649 with eight home runs and 24 RBIs across 26 games. Escobar had at least one RBI in 11 games during the month, and the Mets went 10-1 in those. He became the first player since 2010 when retired captain David Wright won the monthly reward.
As for the Mets bullpen, pitching aces Max ‘Mad Max’ Scherzer, Jacob ‘De-Goat’ deGrom and Edwin Díaz have been strong all season. Although a startling and struggling loss against the Padres in Game One of the Wild Card series, Scherzer is an eight-time MLB All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner and has thrown 173 strikeouts for the Mets during the regular season. DeGrom, a back-to-back Cy Young Award winner, has thrown a total of 103 in the regular and eight in Game Two against the Padres last Saturday night. As for one of the best relievers in the league, claiming three straight NL reliever of the Month awards, Díaz has an ERA of 1.31.
While the Mets gained its fourth 100th win on Tuesday, Oct. 4, in a doubleheader against Washington’s Nationals, the team could not capitalize during the Wild Card games against the San Diego Padres.
