NEW YORK -- As Pete Alonso took his routine batting practice rounds before Tuesday’s series opener against the Nationals, an interested observer leaned against the cage, watching intently. Once Alonso finished, Darryl Strawberry greeted the man who will almost certainly break his franchise home run record.
The two sluggers shared an embrace and briefly spoke.
“I told him congratulations on breaking David Wright,” Strawberry said afterward. “I said, ‘Now go get me.’”
As Alonso approaches the Mets’ franchise record of 252 home runs, the man who’s held that mark for 37 years has become one of his most vocal backers, lauding Alonso for his ability to grow as a hitter and overcome adversity.
“I don’t want my record to stand,” Strawberry said. “I’m not a baseball player no more. I’m a man outside of baseball. This is for these guys. You’re happy when you see that, when you see a guy return after having so much he had to go through, and now he puts it all together. That’s fun.”
In Alonso, Strawberry sees a worthy successor to the record he took from Dave Kingman back in 1988, adding another 98 homers to it before departing via free agency. Since that time, only Wright has come close to Strawberry, hitting 204 homers through his age-29 season and signing a deal that winter to become a Met for life. At the time, Wright seemed a mortal lock to become the franchise’s home run king, but a string of injuries limited him to just 38 homers the rest of his career, leaving him 10 shy of Strawberry.
Wright did pass Strawberry on the Mets’ RBI list in 2012, later extending the record to 970 -- a number that’s safe from Alonso for now. Realistically, Alonso would need to play two more seasons after this one to take the RBI record from Wright, and he’s only under guaranteed team control through 2025. In November, Alonso can opt out of his two-year, $54 million contract to reenter free agency -- a prospect that appears highly likely given his success.
“Everybody had opinions about him, and as a ballplayer, you always want to come back and prove that’s wrong,” Strawberry said. “I didn’t have the opportunity to come back. He had the opportunity to come back. And I’m glad he did take that opportunity.”
Signing even a short-term contract allowed Alonso to focus his sights immediately on Strawberry’s home run record, which is a relatively accessible one. Only the D-backs and Padres have lower franchise homer records than the Mets.
That’s largely because most of the team’s greatest sluggers, including Strawberry, Mike Piazza and Carlos Beltrán, only played fractional portions of their careers in Flushing. Wright was the most prominent exception, but injuries halted his progress. Brandon Nimmo, a more recent example, is not a traditional power hitter. That left Alonso as the player best positioned to claim the record -- and, if he sticks around long term, to put it potentially far beyond the reach of most others.
With two home runs in Sunday’s win over the Rockies, Alonso passed Wright to move within nine of tying Strawberry. He entered the year needing just 26 to match the Mets Hall of Famer.
“It’s a big milestone,” Strawberry said. “You’re talking about a record that’s been there for a very long time, and a lot of players have come through here, and nobody’s gotten close but David Wright. And now Pete’s right there knocking at the door. He’s going to kick through the door.”
If Alonso maintains his current pace of a homer every three to four games, he will pass Strawberry before the end of July. In his second career as a traveling minister, the 63-year-old Strawberry keeps a busy schedule that often requires him to crisscross the country, which is why he was in New York on Tuesday following an event upstate.
But if Strawberry can work out the logistics as Alonso approaches 252, he will travel to the Mets as a show of respect for both the player and the record.
“Good for him -- a homegrown player developed through the farm system just like us -- to have great history here,” Strawberry said. “No one can ever take that away from you once you have done that, and that’s what baseball is all about.”