By Tim Ryder
Major League Baseball has a new rookie home run king.
With his 53rd homer of the season — a third-inning, 106.1 MPH exit velocity, 415-foot solo home run into the centerfield seats at Citi Field in Flushing — New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso broke his tie with Aaron Judge (52, 2017) for most home runs by a rookie in major league history.
After taking his position in the field to start the fourth inning, FOX cameras caught Alonso having a publicly personal moment, clearly overcome with emotion at the weight of the situation.
Alonso, 24, has put together a phenomenal season, coming into Saturday night’s game with a .260/.359/.582 slash line and 143 wRC+ — good for 11th in all of baseball.
He’s already broken (and extended; 85 XBH now, four behind Hal Trosky‘s rookie record of 89, set in 1934) the Mets’ franchise record for most extra-base hits in a season, and he’s now four RBIs behind Mike Piazza‘s franchise season-high of 124 RBIs set in 1999.
If Alonso’s current MLB home run lead holds, he’d be the first rookie in major league history to win the home run title outright. Mark McGwire‘s 49 home runs tied the Cubs’ Andre Dawson for the majors lead in 1987.
With a game-and-a-half remaining in the season, there’s still time for Pete Alonso to break some more records. We’ll keep you posted with any new developments.
