Port ST. LUCKI – As he grew up in Tampa and still lives in the area, Nirvana has been a sports fan’s pete Alonso for the past six months.
On that stretch, the Stanley Cup and the Lombardi Trophy were picked up for the Lightning and Buccaneers, respectively. And Ray, a third professional team in the Tampa area, advanced to Game 6 of the World Series.
This has further increased Alonso’s appetite for success in his job as the Mets’ first baseman. Simply put, Alonso wants to bring a missing piece to New York – the commissioner’s trophy.
“The goal for us is to be the last team at the end of the year and to be able to see how much the city of Tampa was buzzing, it was full of energy and thrills and I can’t wait for it to start in New York, Queens.” Alonso said on Friday after the team workout.
“With that nightingale, for that energy, for that swagger, for that excitement, that is a privilege and it now starts with paying attention to details and getting out there and banging our donkeys and Wants to go out there and win and do anything for a win. It is a privilege to be in that type of environment and I cannot wait for it. I hope that when we do this all the five Boroughs will turn into a massive block party.
Alonso followed his historic 2019 season, in which he set an MLB rookie record by destroying 53 homers with a sophomore slide, if you could call it more than 60 games. In all he finished with a respectable .231 / .326 / .490 slash line for a team with 16 homers and 35 RBI, finishing last in the NL East.
No one will be harder to return to in the full season than Alonso, who said he made for the marathon, but not necessarily the sprint.
“Sixty-game season, I can’t put too much merit in it because I know it’s tough,” Alonso said. “Last year was a very unusual year – not just baseball but I think for all of us. It’s a year of reconciliation and I’m just happy that we get to play 162 matches this year. ‘
Alonso declined early last season and showed improvement by mid-August, but the Mets were left for a week after a player and coach tested positive for COVID-19, and that momentum stalled. Has gone. Alonso started another bounce late in the season.
“I’m really happy that it happened last year, because I think I’m very ready for this year and last year highlighted a lot of things that I needed to get better and I’m going to go. Ready, ”Alonso said. “I’m ready to have fun and go and play there.”
Without a universally named hitter, Alonso would prepare as if he is a regular first baseman. Should an agreement to implement Universal DH be reached before the season between MLB and MLBPA, it could put Dominic Smith on the first base of time defensively with DH’s Alonso.
“I think I’m a really good first baseman and I really want to play ball,” Alonso said. He said, ‘I am a first baseman and I am a position player. I am not a DH. I don’t want to be because I have worked very hard and I think I have played well.
“In 2019 I played really well in first base. I did not have my best year in 2020 whether it was humiliating or defensive, but this year I have a great opportunity and I want to grow as a person and a player and I think I will never be in D.H. I will not think of myself as I will always think of myself as a first baseman. “
Alonso ended the season with a Gold Glove win at the camp last year and the parade float “Drunk in Hell”. He said in response on Friday whether he had similar goals for 2021.
“It’s going to be a good year,” Alonso said.
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