ATLANTA — A drenched Pete Alonso looked around the happy, champagne-soaked clubhouse, a sight he would never see during his first five years with the Mets.
It was worth the wait.
“This was way more than I could have imagined,” Alonso said after the Mets won Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Braves at Trust Park to secure a wild-card berth. “This is unbelievable.”
After 846 major league games, the Mets slugger finally has a chance to celebrate an extended season.
Alonso reached the postseason once, in 2022, when the Mets objected to spraying bottles in each other's faces. The Mets were captured by the Braves, and on the final day of the regular season, they realized they would not be able to win the National League East.
The disappointment meant less satisfaction for the wild-card team, which was eliminated in the wild-card round by the Padres.
That stuck with Alonso, who made a cheerful complaint about the drought at a team meeting two weeks ago.
On September 16th, he inspired and conveyed how much a vacation like this means to pending free agents who are eager to make the postseason and toast a season worth celebrating. I tried.
That meeting, or perhaps the resilience of the club's entire squad, which managed to escape from the sinking by early June, may have paid off.
Alonso was in the middle of the festivities after splitting a double header on Monday.
“Oh my god,” Alonso said, fitting for the 2024 Mets. “Wow. Just amazing. This is surreal. The vibes are immaculate. We've come a very long way this year, so this is very no surprise.”
That was the theme, and many Mets wanted a record of 24 wins and 35 losses on June 2nd.
The 89-win club's rotation began to take off, trading some players, adding Jose Iglesias and calling a meeting in late May that many cited as a turning point.
Alonso hasn't had his best season in what could be his last season with the Mets, but he hit 34 home runs and had a .788 OPS before becoming a free agent and has a chance to boost his stock price in October. There is.
“Not many people saw us in this position right now, especially having played 11 games within two months,” said Alonso, who played in all 162 games this season. “We answered the bell.”
They decided the celebration was worth holding even though the playoffs begin Tuesday in Milwaukee, and they'll soon have to answer again.
“I'm very happy for everyone from top to bottom,” Alonso said. “I can't wait for tomorrow.”
