One year ago today, Pete Alonso took the national stage, representing the New York Mets in the 2019 Home Run Derby. At just 24 years old, Alonso became just the second Met in team history to enter the All-Star break leading the league in home runs.

Alonso’s 30 home runs prior to the break were the headline for the Mets in what appeared to be another forgettable season. New York was 13.5 games back in the division and seven games out of the Wild Card race. All the talk surrounding the team at the time was either centered around Alonso or who could be flipped at the trade deadline.

With all eyes on him, many looked at the Alonso’s presence in the derby as the apex of the season. This was a chance for Mets fans to see their team come out victorious through the monstrous bat of the “Polar Bear”.

Alonso was the two-seed in the tournament, facing off against hometown slugger Carlos Santana in the first round of the Cleveland-based event. Either due to getting his feet wet, or to some less-than-accurate pitching from his cousin, Alonso got off to a rough start in the derby. Near the end of the round, Alonso came back with a flurry, mashing 14 home runs (one more than Santana) to advance.

In round two, Alonso went head-to-head with another phenom from the NL East, Ronald Acuna Jr. The Braves superstar went first in the round, mashing 19 home runs after blasting 25 in round one. Once again, Alonso found himself behind pace to pass his competitor, before getting hot again and beating out Acuna with 20 dingers.

Meanwhile on the other side of the bracket, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was putting on an absolute spectacle.

Guerrero, who was the eight-seed coming into the tournament, but blew out top-seed Matt Chapman in the first round 29-13.

The matchup of the derby came in round two between Joc Pederson and Guerrero, as the two went to multiple playoffs after tying in regulation. Ultimately in three-swing swing-off, Guerrero beat Pederson 2-1 to cap off a 40-home run round and advance to the final.

Critics will point out how gassed Guerrero was heading into the final round, but that was due to the circumstances of the bracket itself. Alonso had earned a top seed with his 30 home runs heading into the break and had the luxury of going second in each of his matchups.

This proved to be the difference in the final round, as Alonso knew exactly how many home runs he needed to hit to become the derby champ. After Guerrero put up a great round of 22 home runs, Alonso walked it off with 23 of his own, becoming the first Met to win the derby since Darryl Strawberry shared the honors with Wally Joyner in 1986.

For being the 2019 Home Run Derby champion, Alonso was rewarded with the $1 million grand prize, of which he donated 5% of his winnings to the Wounded Warrior Project and another 5% to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

Alonso’s derby win was supposed to be the highlight of the season, but it ended up just being a footnote. Whether the derby sparked the team or not, the Mets went on to have a remarkable run in the second half of 2019.

Suddenly the Mets were in a playoff race, pushing Alonso and his home runs into the background as the team success became the forefront of discussion. It was not until the last series of the season, once the Mets were eliminated, that Alonso took center-stage once again in his chase to break Aaron Judge‘s rookie home run record.

Just like All-Star weekend, Alonso rose to the occasion, mashing his 53rd home run in the second-to-last game of the season to become the home run champ. Alonso led all of baseball in home runs, and led all rookies with his 120 RBIs. Following the season, Alonso earned 29 0f 30 first place votes to win the NL Rookie of the Year.

While it is unfortunate that we will not get to watch another derby this year, at least Alonso will remain the reigning champ until the summer of 2021. When he may step up again to defend his title.