Pete Alonso (Part Two) The 2022 NL RBI Champion Season

2022 Mets Wild Card Season: Alonso's season got off to a dangerous start early on.

Car Accident: On March 13th, During Spring Training, Alonso was involved in a car accident in Tampa, Florida. A driver ran a red light, struck Alonso's vehicle causing it to overturn three times. 

Luckily, he nor anyone else was hurt in the accident. His wife was behind him watching the whole incident as it unfolded. He said it was a near death experience.

On March 25th, he signed a $7.4-million-dollar deal avoiding arbitration.

Hit By Pitch: On Opening Night April 7th in Washington DC, Alonso was struck on the shoulder by a pitch from Mason Thompson. 

The fastball ricocheted off his face guard & he fell to the ground. Everyone held their breath as
things looked bad as he was bleeding from his lip & checking to see if he had lost any teeth. 

He was removed from the game but was seen icing the lip in the dugout, as he was quoted as saying "All good". It was one of three hits batsman in the game, as Mark Canha was plunked twice as well. It was the start of a long season of Mets batters getting hit.

Grand Slam: On April 9th, Alonso hit his first HR of the season, it was a grand slam off the Nats Joan Adon in the 5th inning put New York up 4-0. It was the first grand slam of his career as well. The Mets went on to a 5-0 win behind Chris Bassitt's first victory as a Met.

On April 13th Pete had one of five, five RBI days on the season. This came in a 9-6 win at Philadelphia, He first had an RBI double down the line, he later hit another RBI double off the wall. He capped off his day with a three HR, his second of the season. Thru his first eight games he had ten RBIs.

Pete drove in two runs in the first game of the series vs. Arizona then hit a two run HR in the
finale, as five Mets pitchers combined on a 5-0 shut out.  relievers.

Bench Clearing Brawl: After the first 19 Mets games, Mets players had been hit 18 times by opposing pitchers. 

On April 26th, Alonso was struck in the head again with a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals. This time even his wife joined in on the frustration venting off on social media.

That night three Mets were hit by pitches, upsetting Manager Buck Showalter & the team. The next day J.D. Davis was hit by a pitch & had to leave the game. Later Mets pitcher, 
Yohan Lopez threw close to Nolan Arenado with a pitch in the 8th inning. 

Things boiled over after Arenado shoved Mets catcher Tomas Nido & the benches cleared. A bunch of Cardinals surrounded Pete Alonso, then St. Louis coach Stubby Clapp tackled Pete from behind, in a sucker move. 

Quotes- Pete Alonso: "I got pulled from behind. Actually, Genisis Cabrera grabbed me by the back collar & he just ripped down. Then the coach just kind of jumped on me & I thought that was kind cheap. If you want to hold me back, is you want to restrain me, go at me like a man. I totally understand I'm a big guy, a big strong guy. Obviously, they don't know my temper. They don't know what I can do. If I wanted to put someone in the hospital, I easily could. I was just out there trying to protect my guys."

Mets No Hitter: On April 29th, Tylor Megill & four other Mets pitchers combined for the second no hitter in team history, that night Alonso hit his fourth HR of the year, it came off the Phillies Aaron Nola at Citi Field in the 3-0 Mets win.

In May he had his most productive RBI month, driving in thirty runs. He batted .315 with a 1.011 OPS & a .398 on base %. 

In a May 8th double header at Philadelphia, he crushed two HRs, for the first of three multi-HR games on the season. In that game he drove in five runs for the second time of the year. The Mets won it 6-1. 

On May 18th he hit a three-run blast off the Cards TJ McFarland in the Mets five run 8th inning. The Mets went on to a 11-4 victory.

Walk Off HR: The next day on May 9th, Alonso singled in the 1st inning, putting the Mets on the board first 1-0 over St. Louis. In the bottom of the 10th, with the Mets down 6-5, after Albert Pujols had tied the game with a run scoring double play grounder, Alonso hit a walk off HR off Giovanny Gallegos for an exciting 7-6 win. The blast landed in Citi Field's second deck in left field, as his teammates mobbed him at the plate.

On May 22nd, Taijuan Walker pitched seven shutout inning in Colorado. Alonzo & Francisco Lindor supplied the two Mets runs in the 2-0 win.  On May 23rd as the Mets moved to San Francisco, he had a big three hit game, hitting his 11th HR of the season, a three-run shot off Alex Cobb.

On May 27th at Citi Field, Alonso started out the game with a sac fly, then added a 3rd inning two
run HR off Bailey Falter giving the Mets a 5-0 lead over the Phillies. In the 4th inning he doubled in his fourth run of the game in the 8-6 Mets win.

In June the Mets went to Los Angeles for a big series at Dodger Stadium, with the mighty Dodgers. In the second game Alonso hit his 13th HR of the year, although the Mets lost the game 6-1. 

In the final game the Mets salvaged the series & showed they could challenge L.A. as the NL's best team with the 9-4 win. Alonso would come up big with HRs off Walker Buehler in the 3rd inning & Brusdar Graterol in the 7th inning. Pete had three hits & five RBIs on the night.

Hit By Pitch: On June 7th, he was hit by a 95 mile per hour pitch from Yu Darvish in San Diego & had to leave the game. X rays were negative. Starling Marte also got hit by a pitch that night & went on the IL. He returned to action three days later in Anaheim. After his return, Alonso homered in back-to-back games against the Angels.

Grand Slam: On June 17th in a game against the Marlins at Citi Field, he hit his second grand slam of the season. It came off Tommy Nance after he had just hit Francisco Lindor with a pitch to load the bases. Lindor had homered in the 1st inning. Pete's 19th HR came in a seven run Mets 6th inning in the 10-4 victory.

In late June he drove in runs in three straight games, then had another multi-HR game on June
25th in South Florida, hitting two more HRs in a 5-3 Mets win. 

On July 6th he had his first four hit day of the season, it came in Cincinnati in an 8-3 Mets win. After a mini-HR slump that lasted two weeks, he homered off the Marlins Braxton Garrett in a 5-4 Mets win at Citi Field. The Mets were down 4-3 in the 10th inning when Tomas Nido doubled to tie it & scored when Brandon Nimo reached on an error for the walk off win.

Before the All-Star game he had a big four game series at Wrigley Field, collecting just three hits but driving in six runs, as the Mets took two of three from the Cubs. 

The Mets finished the first half twenty-three games over .500 (58-35) of the season 2.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in first place with an 8.5 game lead over the Phillies. Alonso had 24 HRs & 78 RBIs, among tops in the NL for the first half of the season.

2022 All Star Game: After some contemplation, Alonso chose to participate in the HR derby. Alonso had won the two previous Derby's. Former Met pitching coach, now with the Nationals agreed to pitch to him. He did not win the competition. 

Alonso & teammates Jeff McNeil, Edwin Diaz & Starling Marte all represented the Mets at the Mid-Summer Classic. Alonso was a reserve at first base to Paul Goldschmidt in the AL's 3-2 win at Dodger Stadium. In his only at bat he drew a walk off Nestor Cortes.

On July 24th, with the Padres in town, Alonso had another multi-RBI game, his three run HR off Joe Musgrave was his 25th of the year & getting him past the 80 RBI mark. He added an RBI double as well on his four RBI night in the Mets 8-5 win.

Subway Series: In the two game subway series sweep at Citi Field, Alonso drove in a run & collected three hits in the first game 6-3 win. The next he hit a solo HR in the Mets 3-2 win highlighted by Starling Marte's walk off base hit in the bottom of the 9th.

As August began, he hit HRs in three of the first four games of the month, the biggest was a three-run shot off the Braves Kyle Wright, in the first game of a crucial series where the Mets took three of four at Citi Field. In the first eight games of August, he drove in ten runs, with ten hits & three HRs.

On August 13th, he had an RBI single in the bottom of the 1st inning, off Aaron Nola. It was the only run of the game as Jacob deGrom pitched six shutout innings, striking out ten Phillies in a 1-0 Mets win. 

On August 17th, the Mets took a one run lead over the Braves into the top of the 9th inning in Atlanta. Alonso singled driving in Francisco Lindor & Brandon Nimmo, then scored on Daniel Vogelbach's double as the Mets went on to a 9-7 win. 

The Braves would take two of three in the Atlanta series, but New York still held a 3.5 game lead.

On August 19th, as the Mets moved up to Philadelphia, Alonso hit his 30th HR of the year, a three-run shot off Aaron Nola once again in the Mets 7-2 win. He now passed the 100 RBI mark for the second time in his career.

On August 25th, he hit his 31st HR of the year, the two-run shot help lead Jacob deGrom to his third victory, a 3-1 win over the Rockies.

Walk Off Hit: The next night, the Mets were down to the Rockies 6-4 when Mark Canha tied the game up with am 8th inning double. In the bottom of the 9th, Brandon Nimmo walked & Starling Marte was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Alonso singled to left field off Daniel Bard, as Nimmo scored with the walk off run in the Mets 7-6 win.

 NL Player of the Week: In September he hit 9 HRs & drove in 26 runs. Starting on September 13th, he drove in runs in eight straight games. From September 13th thru September 27th, he drove in 22 runs in a 13-game stretch winning the Player of the Week Award.

On September 16th, Alonso's sac fly tied up a game against Pittsburgh in which the Mets went on to win 4-3. On September 19th, in Milwaukee, he hit a long three-run monster shot off Corbin Burns, for his 36th of the year in a 7-2 win. The next night he hit #37 in a 7-5 Mets win over the Brew Crew.

Benches Clear: On September 18th. Alonso was hit by a pitch from Pittsburgh's Johan Oviedo in the 1st inning of the Mets 7-3 win. Alonso exchanged words on his way to first, as benches cleared but order was restored. 

Trivia: It was the 102nd time a Mets was hit by a pitch for the season. They would seta single season record getting plunked 112 times on the year. Alonso was hit by 12 pitches on the season.

The Mets went to Oakland & took two of three from the A's, as Alonso homered in two of the games. 

Five RBI Day & Mets Single Season RBI Leader: On September 25th he matched his season high five RBIs in a 13-4 Met win. First, he hit a two run HR in the 4th inning, his 39th of the year. Later in the 8th, he cleared the bases with a three run double off the right field wall blowing the game open. 

He set a single season Mets RBI record that day as well, passing the 124 mark previously held by Mike Piazza.

 

40th HR: On September 27th at Citi Field, Alonso connected for his 40th HR of the year. A three-run shot off Miami's Pablo Lopez in a 6-4 Mets win, keeping the Mets tied for first with the Atlanta Braves. 

It was the second time in his career he reached that milestone, as he became the first Mets player to 40 or more HRs for a second time.

As the Mets got swept in a horrible series in Atlanta, losing their hold on first place, Alonso collected a hit in each game, as well as drew two walks but he did not HR or drive in any runs.

 He closed out the regular season with two RBIs in the Mets 4-2 win over the Nationals on October 4th. 

Mets Record Setter: Pete Alonso became just the second Met in team history to lead the NL in RBIs. Howard Johnson was the first to do it. The 131 RBIs is also a new Mets single season record, passing Mike Piazza's 124 in 1999.

For 2022, Alonso came in second in the MVP voting, he led the league with 131 RBIs, he hit 40 HRs (second in the NL) with a career high 162 hits & career best .271 average. 

He led the NL in intentional walks (16) & was second with nine sac flies. He also hit 27 doubles with 95 runs scored, 67 walks a .352 on base % & a .869 OPS. He struck out 128 times.

Defensively his defense has improved considerably at first base as well. He made eight errors in 1013 chances with a .992 fielding % playing 134 games at first base. His 92 assists were 3rd most in the NL.

Post Season: The Mets hosted the hot San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card Series; they lost two of the three games ending their once promising season in disappointment. 

In the second game Alonso hit a 5th inning lead off HR off Nick Martinez. He collected two hits in the Mets 7-3 win.

Career Stats: In his four-year career, Pete has played in 530 games, hitting 146 HRs with 512 hits 90 doubles 5 triples 380 RBIs 223 walks 32 intentional walks a .349 on base% & a .884 OPS. He struck out 399 times & was hit by 51 pitches.

Family: Pete married his longtime girlfriend Haylee Renee Walsh in November 2021. 

Quotes- Pete Alonso: "I got married to the woman of my dreams in front of God, our families & our friends".

The wedding was attended by many in the Mets family, such as Jeff McNeil, JD Davis, Dom Smith & Justin Dunn of Seattle. 

Pete met his wife while he was playing baseball in the Cape Cod League.

Hobbies: Pete enjoys hunting & fishing.