As Pete Alonso stepped into the batter’s box in the 9th inning of the decisive game three of the Wild Card series against the Brewers, my brother-in-law commented that if Alonso didn’t do anything in this at-bat he would go down as “the most hated Met of all time.”
An extreme statement, but that’s where New York sports fans reside—the extremes. It was October after all. Every trip to the plate prior, Alonso’s appearance was met with a shake of the head. When he popped out in foul territory, it was met with a scoff. When he waved through a 98 MPH fastball challenge from Nick Mears to lead off the 7th, the outcome felt predetermined: Of course, you struck out…
In the bottom of the frame, after Milwaukee had jumped to a 2-0 lead with back-to-back solo shots, Alonso completely whiffed on a catchable pop-up in foul territory that would’ve ended the inning and stranded runners in scoring position.