Pete Alonso was driving home from Citi Field on Tuesday night when he saw a number from Puerto Rico pop up on his phone.
A Mets official had given the first baseman a head’s-up shortly beforehand that this call might come, but it was no less surreal to answer the phone and hear Carlos Beltran introducing himself on the other end.
Beltran was calling to congratulate Alonso on breaking the Mets’ single-season home run record. The 24-year-old crushed his 42nd home run in Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Cubs, surpassing the mark Beltran previously shared with Todd Hundley.