Mets’ Pete Alonso passes Darryl Strawberry as franchise’s all-time home run leader

NEW YORK — Pete Alonso is nothing if not transparent, a player whose every emotion is genuine and visible. And so, as he rounded third base and headed into Mets history Tuesday night, his smile was irrepressible.

With a two-run third-inning homer in New York’s 13-5 win over Atlanta, Alonso broke Darryl Strawberry’s franchise record for home runs. Strawberry had held the mark for 37 years.

“As a kid, you don’t really think it’s in the realm of possibility,” Alonso said. “You just want to get to the big leagues and give it your best. It’s a wild dream. It’s really special.”

“That,” said manager Carlos Mendoza, “is a moment I’ll never forget.” Mendoza compared Alonso’s joy in that moment to “a kid with a new toy.”

Alonso’s 253rd career home run came in his 965th game and 4,118th plate appearance. Strawberry hit his 252 long balls in 1,109 games and 4,549 plate appearances.

After touching home, Alonso embraced teammates who poured out of the dugout, that smile never leaving his face. He received a curtain call at Citi Field from just under 40,000 fans, most of whom started the day anxious about the Mets’ seven-game losing streak. There was another ovation when he took the field for the top of the fourth.

And, oh, a second curtain call for a second home run, a sixth-inning solo shot to push the record just a little farther.

“You’ve got to work hard to get a standing ovation and a curtain call here,” Brandon Nimmo said.

“He’s a homegrown player who understands what it takes to play in New York,” Mendoza said. “We know it can be tough.”

What does it take to succeed here?

“Not just excellence from a performance standpoint,” Alonso said, “but a lot of sacrifice and dedication. A lot of work, a lot of hours put in, not just during game time. It’s having that care and that work ethic and that love of the game.”

Indeed, his oft-cited lesson from his record-breaking 2019 rookie season was that hard work pays off. That sacrifice hasn’t ceased in the years since, through the course of peaks and valleys that the sport inherently designs for you.

Talk to his teammates and you’ll hear about how Alonso always posts — how he doesn’t sit out games against the opposing team’s best starter.

You’ll hear about the work he does on team flights, devouring video of opposing pitchers and peppering his own team’s starters for insight. You’ll hear about the consistency of his demeanor, the even-keeled nature required to navigate the game’s undulations. You’ll hear about the way he prioritizes winning, how Tuesday meant so much more because it came on a night when everyone contributed, because it came in a victory.

“You know his intentions are in the right place,” David Peterson said last week. “It’s so fun to watch him because I know how hard he works and how much he cares and how much he wants to win.”

The passing of the crown 👑 🍓 🐻‍❄️ pic.twitter.com/Pk83DMuCn1

— New York Mets (@Mets) August 13, 2025

Peterson and Nimmo, like Alonso, are homegrown Mets, and they all talked about how much that meant for the record.

“I’ve grown up in this organization,” Alonso said. “They believed in me as a 21-year-old kid, and they’ve consistently believed in me. Hopefully they continue to believe in me.”

“There’s only one organization that you’re drafted by, there’s only one organization you come up with,” Nimmo said.

“When we were coming up, the stigma around the organization was that we had some guys but we weren’t consistently a top-rated system,” Peterson said. “To see guys now on the team come through the organization means a lot. He’s been with one team. He’s done it with this team and this team only. That relationship between the two is really special.

“His impact echoes.”

It sure did Tuesday, with many of his teammates paying tribute to Alonso’s achievement by emulating it.

New York hit a half-dozen homers on the night, as many as it’s ever hit in a home game. Alonso had his two, as did Francisco Alvarez. Nimmo’s three-run shot in the fourth inning broke a 5-5 tie and gave the Mets the lead for good. Brett Baty’s solo shot in the seventh, on the heels of Alvarez’s second long ball, closed the scoring.

This was the offensive breakthrough the Mets have been waiting for. It was the kind of night they were designed to produce a whole lot more frequently than they have so far this season, the kind of night when they could render a middling or even poor starting pitcher performance irrelevant. Clay Holmes couldn’t get through the fourth; this time it didn’t matter.

“Not every game is going to be like this,” Nimmo said, “but you enjoy the ones that are.”

Nothing revealed it more than Alonso’s smile.

“I love the city of New York, I love this fan base,” Alonso said. “It’s a treat to play in front of every night. It’s a great stage to play.”

(Photo: Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)