We knew this wouldn’t take long when we told you that New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso had tied Cody Bellinger’s 2017 National League rookie home run record of 39 on Thursday night.
Yeah, it took about 72 hours as “the Polar Bear”—as I have just come to learn he is called—hit his record breaking 40th yesterday in the ninth inning of the Mets 11-5 win over the Royals.
"It's crazy," Alonso said when asked about setting the record. "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. 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."
What’s really crazy is a Mets team that was all but dead in the water just one month ago pulled the Mets (64-60) into a three-way tie in the NL wild-card chase with the Phillies and Brewers, two games behind the Chicago Cubs who beat Pittsburgh last night in Williamsport Pthe Little league Classic by a score of 7-1.
Oh, and for those of you scoring at home, Aaron Judge holds the major league record for home runs in a season by a rookie, with 52 in 2017.
Source: ESPN