This year’s Home Run Derby was probably one of the best there has ever been. It featured a triple swing off between Joc Pederson and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in what was one of the more exciting rounds in Home Run Derby history. Seemingly each round had a level of excitement.

That included each round of the rounds Alonso participated. In the first round, he needed all of his four minutes to top Carlos Santana‘s 13. Again, in the second round, Alonso would get hot after his time out, and he would hit a homer surpassing Ronald Acuna Jr.‘s 19 just as this initial four minutes expired. This set up an exciting final.

Somehow Guerrero still had homers left in his bat after two rounds and three swing offs where he hit 69 homers. In his four minutes plus thirty seconds on bonus time, he would hit 22 homers. Notably, those 22 homers were more than Alonso had in any round. Looking deeper, the 22 homers were the fourth most homers anyone had in any round heading into the final.

Once again, Alonso would go on a tear after his timeout, and he would not need his thirty seconds of bonus time to surpass his competition. As he hit his 23rd homer of his final round, he would raise his hands in excitement. A crowd which mildly booed when he beat hometown hero Santana was now cheering him.

In prior years, we have seen players get pressured into participating in the Home Run Derby. We have seen players like Bryce Harper only participate in front of the home crowd, or other players like Ken Griffey Jr. do it begrudgingly. That wasn’t the case with Alonso. He wanted to participate in the event, and his enthusiasm showed as he won each round celebrating as the clinching homer went over the wall.

As if Alonso winning wasn’t enough, he donated ten percent of his winnings to charity. With him winning the Home Run Derby and donating a portion to charity, you have to pinch yourself just to make sure he is real. As he showed during the regular season, Alonso is an exciting player who seemingly does everything right. It’s why he’s become a fan favorite overnight, and it is why he is on his way to becoming a superstar.

The Home Run Derby gave us Mets fans reason to cheer in an otherwise lost season. It showcased for the world just how great Alonso is as a player and a person. This was exactly everything you wanted the Home Run Derby to be, and it was an example of why we all love Alonso, and that is why it was the Neon Moment of the Week!

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