Edgardo Alfonzo is beloved by Mets fans and under-appreciated outside of Mets circles.
It’s hard to go relatively unnoticed in New York, but Alfonzo did that among many other feats. No accomplishment was better than his night at the Astrodome in Houston on August 30, 1999. In fact, it might be the best performance any Met has ever had.
Twelve Mets in history have blasted three home runs in a game. Fewer have had six hits. Fonzie did both—breaking or tying team records in four separate categories. He set single-game highs in runs scored (six) and total bases (16) in addition to being among the handful to enjoy a three-homer performance.
Of even greater rarity was it happened at the Astrodome, where no visiting player in the stadium’s 35-year history ever produced that kind of power exhibition. The Mets Hall of Famer also became the first Amazin’ with six hits in a game and did so without wasting a turn at the plate.
Alfonzo’s smooth right-handed swing deposited Houston starter Shane Reynolds’ first-inning pitch into the second row beyond the distant left-center-field fence. New York sent nine to the plate in the second, in which Alfonzo singled to the opposite field to help prolong a six-run inning.
Reynolds’ evening ended early. Alfonzo’s attack on Astro pitching, though, didn’t let up. With one runner aboard, he sent another home run to left field against reliever Brian Williams—only to return two innings later to haunt Sean Bergman with the same outcome. Alfonzo, who had long since surpassed his career-high for round-trippers in a season, opened the sixth by connecting on his third—the first Met to hit a trio of round-trippers since Gary Carter in September 1985.
Alfonzo’s home runs were over but he wasn’t done setting records. He singled and scored in the eighth and then cemented his masterpiece with a ninth-inning run-scoring double that pushed New York’s lead to 15-1.
When he came home later in the inning to score his sixth run, his 16 total bases joined him with only 17 other major leaguers who had reached that number in a nine-inning game since the turn of the 20th century. Houston fans who stayed to witness this 17-1 rout stood and applauded Alfonzo’s brilliance.
In the wake of a performance that would usually make even the modest a bit self-congratulatory, when asked in the locker room about his favorite part of the evening, the second baseman provided a typical self-effacing answer.
“The last out,” he said, “because we won the game.” A game in which the unassuming Alfonzo distinguished himself in club history.
