Pete Alonso #20 of the New York Mets hits a home-run during the eighth inning of the game against the San Francisco Giants (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Pete Alonso changed the vernacular of the New York Mets from LGM to LFGM. Fans were captivated instantly and demanded ownership to not let their homegrown star depart for more green and greener pastures.
Before “OMG,” the lore of Grimace and “The Playoff Pumpkin,” LFGM went viral, spawned during Alonso's 2019 season that ended with 53 home runs and 120 RBIs, the former breaking Aaron Judge's record (52) for most by a rookie in Major League Baseball.
“The Polar Bear” on July 31, 2019, typed those four letters, all caps, spur of the moment and shared them over social media. The Mets were 51-55 at the time. They went 35-21 to finish 86-73, third in the National League East and three games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the second wild card. New York was 46-26 after the All-Star break, second in the NL behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (46-24).
Alonso and the Mets need one another, so they agreed to a reported two-year, $54 million contract Feb. 5 with an opt out after this season. His 226 homers since his 2019 debut are second in baseball behind Judge (232). Even after a perceived down season – .240 with 34 home runs and 88 RBIs – he was 12th in MLB in homers, hitting the biggest one of his life off Brewers closer Devin Williams in Game 3 of the 2024 NL Wild Card Series, a go-ahead three-run shot en route to a 4-2 victory that sent the Mets to the Division Series.
The emotion shown by Alonso was a microcosm of his value to Flushing, Queens, and New York City. They'll get more of it in 2025, a 30-year-old intent on helping power the Mets to their first World Championship in 39 years.
“I think that's what Pete has always said he wanted,” retired pitcher Nelson Figueroa told RG at the 45th annual Thurman Munson Awards in New York on Thursday. “He kind of lost his leverage in negotiations when every single thing out of his mouth was, I want to be a Met for life, and I don't want to play anywhere else.”
“He set the bar so high with the rookie home run record.
I mean, unless you go higher than that, everything else seems like a failure. Last year, he had 34 home runs, which everybody's like, 'Oh my God, what a terrible year,'” Figueroa continued.
Alonso is projected to bat third when the Mets open the regular season at the Houston Astros on March 27, and help Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto give an extra lift to a lineup missing an injured Jeff McNeil (oblique strain) and Francisco Alverez (broken left hamate bone). His return allowed Mark Vientos to stay at third base in lieu of transitioning to first, a psychological boost to a 25-year-old coming off a breakout season (.266-27-71).
There's also a legit chance at franchise annals. Alonso's 226 home runs are third in Mets history, behind Darryl Strawberry (252) and David Wright (242) since their 1962 expansion season. He can also be just the fourth to play the entirety of his Major League career for the Mets, joining David Wright (2004-16, '18), Ron Hodges (1973-84) and Ed Kranepool (1962-79).
Wright did, retiring from baseball as Mets captain following the 2018 season because of lingering back and shoulder injuries. He'll be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame and his No. 5 retired in a ceremony before New York plays the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on July 19. He'll be the 10th to have his number retired and third in two years (Dwight Gooden, Strawberry) and the second (Tom Seaver) to enter the team's Hall of Fame on the same day.
Like Gooden on Thursday, Wright was honored with a Thurman Munson Award in 2008, and Alonso's turn might be down the road. The Mets fan base is again shouting LFGM, their Polar Bear in New York for at least another season, something that would have been missed.
Just like Wright, who brought the noise in his own way.
“He was an example that you wanted everybody to watch because he left it all out there on the field,” said Figueroa, Wright's teammate in 2008 and '09. “He knew when to pat somebody on the back and kick other guys in the ass. That's what a captain does. I look at a lot of similarities, and what David Wright brings. We all tie back into the Munson Awards, with Munson being the [Yankees captain]. He was the same way.”
