Pete Alonso slugged his 40th home run in a victory over the Kansas City Royals, which set a new NL rookie home run record. The New York Mets rookie first baseman continues to chase history and break records in his first full season in Queens.
Alonso, 24, broke a NL rookie home run record set by Cody Bellinger two seasons ago. In 2017, Bellinger smashed 39 home runs in his rookie season with the LA Dodgers.
ALL-TIME MLB ROOKIE HR LEADERS:
Aaron Judge (NYY) 52 in 2017
Mark McGwire (OAK) 49 in 1987
Pete Alonso (NYM) 40 in 2019
Cody Bellinger (LAD) 39 in 2017
Alonso needs to hit 13 more home runs if he wants to secure the overall MLB rookie record. Two seasons ago, Aaron Judge smoked 52 dingers in his first full season with the NY Yankees. Judge broke a record previously held by Mark McGwire. In 1987 with the Oakland A’s, McGwire hit 49 home runs.
The NY Mets have had a wild season with the emergence of Alonso as their biggest story. Their manager, Mickey Callaway, almost got fired a couple of times. Their GM made a couple of baffling moves at the trade deadline, but the team responded with a sizzling win streak to get back into the thick of the tight NL Wild Card race.
Rookie Home Run King
Alonso played in the Mets AA club in Binghamton last season before he made the big league squad after an impressive spring training. The Mets rookie first baseman made a name for himself early in the season in Queens. He set a modern MLB record with 11 extra base hits in his first ten games.
“It’s crazy, I just gotta go back to the days of spring training when I didn’t know if I was gonna make the team out of camp or not,” said Alonso. “I’m just extremely thankful for this opportunity, and this has been such an incredible year. I just wanna keep building and help this team win.”
With 38 games remaining, Pete Alonso is chasing another home run record. Alsono needs only two more long balls to secure the franchise HR record. That’s amazing considering how many sluggers played for the Amazin’ Mets over the years Dave Kingman, Darryl Strawberry, Mike Piazza, and David Wright.
Todd Hundley set the Mets team record back in 1996 with 41 home runs. Carlos Beltran also smacked 41 dingers for the Mets in 2006.
“That’s even more mind-boggling,” said Alonso. “I’m just really grateful. Grateful and thankful and happy that I’ve had this opportunity.”
New King of Queens Mashing
In the first two weeks of the season, Alonso hit eight home runs and found himself at the top of the NL homer list with the big dogs — Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger.
CURRENT NL HR LEADERS:
Cody Bellinger (LAD) 42
Christian Yelich (MIL) 41
Pete Alonso (NYM) 40
Ronald Acuna (ATL) 35
Alonso proved his early success was not a fluke. The rookie held his own against MVP candidates and the top sluggers in the NL. With less than a quarter of the season to go, Alonso is in the thick of the NL home run race.
Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger leads the majors with 42 home runs. Christian Yelich has been fending off a bad back all season, but he still managed to crush 41 long balls.
LA Angels superstar Mike Trout is the only other player with 40+ home runs. Trout leads the AL with 41 homers.
Re-write the record books. â„ï¸ðŸ» pic.twitter.com/WHR9Pqodg9
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 18, 2019
