Mets first baseman Pete Alonso was hit on the wrist by a pitch Wednesday and hasn’t played since. Initial X-rays came back negative and he was diagnosed with a contusion, but the diagnosis seems to be worsening. As the club was in Atlanta yesterday, he left for New York to undergo further testing, including an MRI. This morning, Jon Heyman of The New York Post tweets that there is “real concern” about Alonso hitting the injured list, potentially for weeks. Similarly, Will Sammon of The Athletic tweets that an IL stint seems likely.
An absence from Alonso is the last thing that the club needs at the moment. Having just been swept by their division rivals in Atlanta, they are now in fourth place in the National League East, 8.5 games behind Atlanta for the lead. Despite their 30-33 record, they’re only three games back of a Wild Card spot at the moment, but losing a player like Alonso surely wouldn’t help matters.
The Mets came into this season with their eyes set on competing, to put it mildly, as they ran up the highest payroll in baseball history. Their struggles are due to various players being hurt or falling short of expectations, but Alonso has continued to be remarkably consistent in his fifth major league season. He’s already launched 22 home runs and his .231/.326/.546 batting line translates to a 139 wRC+, indicating he’s been 39% better than league average. His wRC+ has been between 133 and 144 in each full season in which he’s participated.
Subtracting a bat of that caliber would be a blow to any lineup, but it would be especially noteworthy for the scuffling Mets club. With Alonso sitting out yesterday’s game, rookie Mark Vientos took over at first base. He has hit very well in the minors but is slashing .162/.179/.243 in the majors this year amid sporadic playing time. Perhaps a regular gig would help him get into a groove at the plate, but it wouldn’t be fair to expect him to simply jump up to Alonso’s level in short order.
The Mets have some significant games coming up on the schedule, which they may have to navigate without Alonso. They are in Pittsburgh this weekend to play the Pirates, the team currently holding the final playoff spot in the National League. The rest of the month sees them square off against the Yankees, Astros and Phillies, among others.
Both homerun kings down in NY. Bummer.
Schwarber is the defending HR king in the NL.
I think he meant both current homerun leaders.
Von: But the Mets, without the World Baseball Classic hero Edwin Diaz, and now without Alonso for any time, are toast.
The Yankees, who seemingly have pieced together a bullpen, are still in their wild card race, but they are staring at starting pitching that is headed to be as bad as the Mets very soon, unless somebody gets healthy.
Bummer for all baseball, for the Mets with Alonso and Yankees with Judge bring bodies to the ballparks across both leagues.
HR KING usually implies that they are reigning champions. You wouldn’t call Alonso the HR king in June. He’s the HR leader.
I’m not sure on this one but maybe he’s a big fan of June and the leader each day of the month means something to him. So, he calls them kings.
The loss of Diaz hasn’t hurt the Mets much since Robertson has been phenomenal. Who knows if Robertson performs as well in the setup role. Alonso’s injury may be short. Mets are struggling, but it’s early and that last WC is wide open.
I was talking about this year, and the incredible pace they were both on. Please don’t read too much into it.
Mets were already toast. They need to spend a few more billion.
Homerun princes
They’re homerun kings, both having lead the league before. I don’t think the technicality matters much though. They’re homerun kings.
Sad to say none of this appears particularly relevant. The Mets are an expensive, ill-conceived attempt to get in via one of the wild card slots, and couldn’t be better suited if expressly intended, to get no farther than the first round of the postseason.
A 40 year old and a 38 year old, unable in 2022 to maintain the pace of four days rest, were the team’s ostensible postseason stalwarts, designed to get through the entirety of October and all four rounds, intact?
This is the sort of team you get if you’re playing a video game where the rich kid gets to spend wildly after waking up from a 5+ year coma. “Verlander! Scherzer! That Shortstop! Marte in center!”
He has only lead mlb in home runs since he has been in mlb. I would categorize that as being a homerun king.
He stated NY, not MLB. Ugh…
Fools will argue anything, it seems. Anything.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, what the hell is wrong with baseball every bodies hurt
Insurance, insurance, insurance
Baseball stinks no one is hurt this much
Good. Next time keep your mouth shut, Petey, and take your trip around the bases.
What a ridiculous take. Celebrating is part of the game now. Everyone does it
Celebrating is fine. Running your mouth about a bad pitch is not celebrating, it’s just being an ass.
Typical Braves fan. Celebrating someone getting hurt. Worst fan base in MLB.
Most Braves fans were sorry to see him get hurt, so your take about typical Braves fan is a bad one.
Well stated.
Lifelong Brave fan here but I sure enjoy Alonso’s play.
Wishing him a speedy recovery.
Yapping at the other team has been going on as long as the game has been in existence. Often we don’t know if the players know each other and are just bantering back and forth, or if there was an earlier incident we don’t know about, or a half dozen other reasons. Fans don’t always know what’s going on and I hope they can at least keep that level of privacy out of the newspapers. A clue would be Morton’s genuine apology to Alonso after the game.
I’m sure that you are a typical Mets fan. I’ve been to both places and from what I’ve seen Mets fans and New York fans in general are far worse than Braves fans. At least the Braves can win.
What a trash comment, the Braves fanbase is downright angelic compared to the second sister Mets fans.
Morton is one of the nicest, most popular players in the league. I really doubt it was intentional.
Not you though and your the one posting.
So has karma
He sought out Alonso after the game and apologized. He said it wasn’t intentional. Although it does make you wonder when Altuve, Machado and Alonso get hit on the hand by a pitch. Why don’t players with lesser credentials ever get hit?
Orlando Arcia got hit.
Yeah they do. You just don’t have the media writing tons of articles about them because they aren’t as prominent
Then, the typical Braves fan doesn’t go to the ballpark, as the cheers were clearly audible on the broadcast.
That’s fair and right. Morton clearly didn’t mean for the ball to get away from him. My problem is the Braves fans’ reaction to it. Cheering an injury is Neanderthal, no matter who it is.
Thank you for making my point.
As is bleating about one’s bowel movements in public.
The narcissism is unpleasant. Does he really think we’re eager for such news?
I think first and foremost, you need to pitch Alonso inside to keep the ball in the yard. That pitch was not intentional by Morton. So this has nothing to do with revenge.
Personally, I think Alonso crossed the line. Flipping the bat, staring at the homer and celebrating is awesome. All part of the game. Alonso did that. Love to see it. It makes the game more exciting. But then personally taunting the pitcher from the dugout after all that? That’s a little much. Especially when you’re taunting a team that absolutely owns you. So, if Morton plunked Alonso in the backside, it was well earned. But again, this was clearly unintentional, and had nothing to do with Alonso flapping his gums. An inside pitch got away and hit Alonso in the hand. Keep in mind this is the same Mets team that had issues with Stroman celebrating a huge double play. Seems hypocrtical when Alonso humps the dugout rail and taunts pitchers. I’m all for having fun and celebrating, but it goes both ways.
I had zero issue with what Alonso did before/during/after. Not his fault Morton hung a slider. However, I feel that Morton did not intentionally hit him as hes had control issues for the past season or so. I really can’t blame him for trying to establish the inside half of the plate on his next AB. It was just competitive banter going back and forth. People are making an issue out of a non issue.
If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.
I find it interesting that somewhere between 2019-21 Tim Anderson flipped his bat after a HR against KC. The next time up, TA got plunked for that. Now players slam their bats into the ground and flip their bats higher than the dugout and no one on the other team gets upset.No one intentionally gets the in their ear the next time up. It’s all part of show for everyone except TA.
It’s also about the time frame. “Old school” starting going away around 2020. Bat flipping being okay is a new thing.
He ran the bases and said it from the dugout. We got the sweep – let’s not make this a thing and make people think an erratic pitch by a sloppy Morton may have been intentional.
Sorry for his injury, hope he gets back in there before the next Braves series so they don’t have an excuse for losing.
@RunDMC,
You may have just coined a new term with ‘a sloppy Morton’. It sounds like something beyond vulgar. I’m checking the Urban Dictionary as soon as I hit Post Comment.
Alonso didn’t say we got the sweep. He said “Throw it to me again” a couple times
Two separate, unrelated sentences.
“Sloppy Morton” is obvious nonsense, or worse.
Charlie Morton’s HBPs in 2023, per inning, are fewer than they’ve been since 2012.
The Urban Dictionary doesn’t cite an entry for ‘Sloppy Morton’, but there is an entry for ‘Sloppy Carlton’ and you do not want to know its definition.
So you’re ok with the Mets trying to break Acuna and Riley’s hand next go around. Celebrating an injury is 100% worse than someone taunting a home run. You and your seven up votes made all Brave fans look very bad.
Another dumb take from a Mets fan. I gave that comment a thumbs up because he wished Alonzo back to health for the next time we play, and I image most did. Grow up.
My comment was from Leshi and not rundmc but double down with the dumb Mets fans. Only dumb comments are coming from Braves fans enjoying Alonso getting hurt.
You’re joking, right? These guys bark at each other all the time from the dugout
They’re constantly chirping back and forth. Saying “Throw it again” isn’t out of the ordinary. Happens all the time
As much as people are exaggerating when they’re acting like Alonso committed a horrible crime, it’s an equal exaggeration to act like this was normal everyday friendly trash talk. Alonso was feeling himself and he went a little far barking directly at the pitcher. The Braves took it personally and barked right back as soon as they had an opportunity. Plenty of teams talk friendly trash talk. Alonso is a friendly dude. This was not that. Alonso was just super into his homerun and went a little too far IMO.
@Von:
I agree with you about Alonso taking it a bit too far. It was almost like he had a little bad blood with Elder. I wonder if there was anything extra going on.
@Camden a player hits a homer and then directly yells back at the pitcher from the dugout “all the time”? There are about 4800 games played per year and everything is on camera these days. Should be 1,000’s of videos available online of this happening since it happens “all the time”, right? You won’t find many because it doesn’t. Imagine if Riley had yelled back at Verlander after his 1st inning homer last night….what do you think would’ve happened? Riley would have caught one in the ribs his next AB (if Verlander was still in the game), that’s a fact. Players pimp home runs, celebrate in the dugout all the time. But they do not yell back at the pitcher on the mound after a homer all the time. That is 1,000% false.
Everyone acts like a clown now, at least by old school standards.
See: Jazz Chisholm
Shut up! You don’t hurt anyone cause your team cant pitch to him. Braves talk alot! See what happens when they throw at riley next time. Hate people like you. Talk trash behind the keyboard. Alonso is a good dude and great for baseball. Karma going to come for one of your hitters. Maybe the idiot also behind the keyboard
Wow, you must be around 12 or 13.
The banter that Pete did is common–and this particular banter was esp vanilla. The hot mike was for the celebration of the homer but accidentally caught the banter–they caught it but the banter is/was not a big deal. Morton did not mean to hit Pete. Pete is a great guy. The fans cheered him walking off the field after an injury. Not cheering him being hurt. No real Braves fan wants any player to be hurt.
wtf? sorry I don’t know how that happened….
Don’t taunt pitchers.
Agree, taunt pitchers at your own risk. Right or wrong, they have the ball in their hand and can dispense justice anytime they want.
You always have to be careful with Karma. Guy should have just run the bases and left it at that. But no, he had to run his mouth.
He won’t be missed…
Old York,
Yes Pete has immense power but he is very immature and is not a Team Leader. Not the sharpest tool in the toolshed unfortunately.
Derek Jeter set such a high bar just be more like him is the right way to conduct oneself.
Mets are a $ 350 MM dumpster fire sinking like a stone.
He. ran. the. bases. He said this from the dugout.
Don’t understand against this considering Bryce Elder (NL ERA leader going into the game) threw the same bad breaking pitching over the plate and was hammered by Lindor/Alonso in the same inning. He fixed the issues, but yes, I’d be saying the same thing considering Bryce didn’t learn after throwing a meatball to Lindor that got hammered into the chophouse, then proceeds to serve up the same bad pitch to MLB’s HR leader — and it got served.
While Alonso contributed to bulletin board material, there is being made way too much of this.
I had the benefit of watching Derek Jeter all those years. He was the Yankee captain who had lots of respect for the opposition and that respect came back to him. I can’t see him conducting himself this way ever. If Pete wants to be the Team leader he needs to take note.
With all due respect, not everyone should try to be Derek Jeter. Different organization, different time. Chirping happens all the time and I’m sure Jeter did it quite a bit, without many of the same clips because of how less prominent cameras in the dugout and less pervasive social media was during Jeter’s years.
Please Polar Bear, don’t be Jeter. You do you.
That and a bunch of hookers
You mean, giving gift baskets to his one-night stands? Yeah, doesn’t exactly shout “class” unless one is the sort to spell it with a capital “K”.
Jack:
He gave a gift basket to the same woman twice. Apparently he didn’t remember her.
Not classy….?!?! You, dear friend, have not discovered an Edible Arrangement.
Nothing says “thank you for an incredible night of lovemaking” like a cellophane-wrapped cantaloupe boutique.
That’s where Big D went wrong.
JackStrawb,
The one classless thing that Jeter did was to no show Bob Sheppard’s funeral on an off day which I think there was no excuse for.
“While Alonso contributed to bulletin board material, there is being made way too much of this.”
This is just it. Sometimes it’s better to just trot around the bases. That just fired up the Braves even more in a series in June which the Mets needed more than the Braves. That was the key take away for me out of this whole thing. This series turned out to be a disaster for the Mets.
Polarizing
Anyone commenting on the “trash talk” needs to sit down by the dugout any given game and hear the banter back and forth. Nobody should ever wish harm or applaud injury, that is the real disgusting aspect of this.
Some dudes just ask for it. If this were Chipper Jones a decade ago, you’d be laughing.
@findingnimmo
LOL! Ironic, given that we’re trash talking him for trash talking a pitcher. No one is wishing another guy gets injured.
Too many sensitive people. Pete said nothing wrong. Apparently no one is allowed to show emotion anymore.
@btammone17
I agree, too many sensitive people. Pete was trash talking the pitcher so it’s fair game to trash talk him. Guy’s a clown. He fits right in with the circus in Queens.
Steve Cohen thinks he can spend his way out of Mets Wilpon incompetence, so he brings back Sandy Alderson to structure the organization who was responsible for much of the circus. Hires GMs who are incompetent and who spend $ like a 4 year old wasting $ like never before.
What Steve Cohen really wants is a casino in the Citifield parking lot and he is losing that battle and playing hardball with the City and neighborhood who want a soccer team and stadium but Cohen isn’t into this and is denying them the Citifield parking lot. This is getting ugly raising Mets fans expectations and delivering a $ 350 MM circus.
Bringing in 1st ballot HOFers (Scherzer/Verlander after a Cy Young year) to replace a more expensive, fragile star SP (deGrom) is something that every team would do, if they could afford. Getting them at (expensive) short-term contracts was essentially was ATL’s Anthopoulos was raved at doing (Donaldson, Ozuna, Morton), but this is on a much larger scale – because Cohen can do it. With so many fans complaining about their team not spending money, it’s hilarious they get flack for spending too much. I make fun of it b/c it’s fun to see $100M worth of SPs (Carrasco, Verlander, Scherzer) get swept in a series, but if ATL could do that, I’d wish they’d do the same thing if it was the best shot at winning a title. Certainly looks better than paying deGrom close to $200M.
All Braves hitters are pretty hot now.
Harris, Ozuna, and Albies have gotten off their schneids and what about Orlando Arcia!!
Mets’ walked into an offensive meat grinder this week.
@RunDMC On the contrary, Cohen’s problem isn’t that he’s spending $350 million, it’s that he’s spending it wholly brainlessly, on a perfectly ad hoc basis.
Imagine thinking in the 2022-23 offseason’s last minutes you need a star IFer, failing to get him, then not bothering to shore up your weak bullpen when studs like Andrew Chafin are going for relative peanuts.
That was similar to Cohen’s lunge for Trevor Bauer, or dealing for Lindor when SS was where the Mets were best off throughout the organization, failing to realize that shelling out $363 million to make a splash was going to cause payroll problems even when you were willing to send payroll through the roof, thanks to the eight or so much larger holes on the roster.
It’s all too clear Cohen is playing GM and Eppler is only there to handle the paperwork, as when Eppler admitted he had to get Cohen’s approval for as trivial a move as getting rid of Ruf. It’s additionally all too clear Cohen has no better idea of how to build a team than an overeager 14 year old fan with far too much money to spend.
The NL HR leader is a clown? What a take, people should really take your comments seriously.
I disagree here. Pete is always very loud and vocal with his celebrations. I’m all for it. But then taunting the opposing pitcher to “throw it again” after you just stared at your homer and bat flipped…to me that’s excessive. Celebrate. Bat Flip. Dance around. Put on a homer hat. Do a hand signal to your teammates. Face time your friends and family. Go streaking in the dugout for all I care. I love that stuff. But there’s no need to personally insult the pitcher from your dugout.
@VonPurpleHayes
100% agree. Go ahead and celebrate, it’s the culture we currently have in baseball. I’m not a big fan of over-the-top celebrations but I’m not running baseball. However, taunting the other team makes no sense. Celebrate what you did, don’t turn it into trolling the other team.
There’s no real reason to taunt a rookie pitcher if you’re a 5+ year vet in the league and you’re known for hitting homers. Also, was Pete expecting Bryce to just give up on one of his best pitches just because he gave up a HR? Heck no, dude is going to keep throwing it and make the adjustment. It didn’t happen this time. Celebrate the HR all you want, but you’re opening yourself up to some scrutiny if you try to make it personal. Wonder what Pete will think the next time someone strikes him out twice on the same pitch? Especially if they chirp back “swing and miss again”. Or “I threw it again” ♂️
Maybe it does, but in this case, it was from a vet to a rookie, that later resulted in said taunter getting plunked. Baseball gods must not have liked it. Morton seemed truly apologetic and it seemed the catcher wasn’t aware there was any malice intended. Just an unfortunate series of events.
Personally insult the pitcher??? Is he talking about Bryce’s mom? Dead dog? No! Bryce is a ballplayer and threw not 1, but 2 bad pitches in the same inning (Lindor HR earlier in the inning off the same breaking ball that hung over the heart of the plate — and got hammered, as well). Considering Bryce is known for having some of the most break on his pitches (and was the NL ERA leader going into the game), I’m sure Alonso was happy to FINALLY get a hold of something from him. Considering it was one of Lindor’s only hits of the series — he was most assuredly happy to finally see Bryce being human. Nothing personal about having an issue with your pitch and benefitting from it. Nothing he said was personal — and Bryce’s response appeared he didn’t take it that way. Braves won the series. Internet got their out-of-context viral moment that will live in infamy. Braves fans have a reason to hate the Mets. Everyone (except the Mets) wins.
It gets personal when you’re insulting a player as opposed to celebrating your achievement. Pimping homeruns is very different from telling a pitcher that they should be better. I think 90% of the players in the Braves dugout were annoyed by Alonso’s comment, and it showed when they chirped back.
and does no one remember Acuna Jr’s celebration at 3rd base after his monster homerun at Citi a few weeks ago?
Nothing wrong with celebrating. Pete does a lot of that and it’s fun. I think barking directly at an opposing player, after you just crushed a homer off of them is a bit classless. You’re not celebrating your accomplishment anymore, you’re belittling an opposing player’s talent. Either way, it has nothing to do with Morton’s pitch that was clearly unintentional. I hope Alonso recovers quickly.
I completely agree w everyone shutting down the folks applauding injury and wishing harm. That said, there are differences between celebrating and taunting. Pete yelling at the pitcher out of the dugout was immature. When he got asked about it afterwards he responded immaturely to that too, like a little kid that was more pissed he got caught than willing to own up to an immature outburst.
Flip the bat, show plenty of emotion, celebrate w your teammates but there’s no need to taunt the pitcher. Wishing him a speedy recovery here, the game needs its stars.
This is not a good team. Period.
Imagine having a $17 billion fortune, a subsidized monopoly that’s a license to print money, and still choosing to effectively run out of money because you couldn’t plan your team’s payroll over a period of a few years.
—Get me that shiny SS!
–That’s where we have our best depth…
—Get him! Get me that old star pitcher, too!
–Got him. Oh, he kinda broke.
—Get another!
–Got him. Oh, he kinda broke too.
—Get another!!!
–Er, baseball seems to be out of mythic old arsekickers.
—…
Not a good team, indeed.
The injured list better be careful. The list doesn’t know Pete Alonso’s temper or what Pete Alonso might do to it. Why, Pete Alonso could easily put the injured list in the hospital if he wanted to.
Swept in Atlanta (again!) on a walk-off HR after blowing a 10-3 lead … now their big bopper is headed to the DL … LOLmets shall endure.
FWIW, the largest game deficit was 4 runs (9-5, 10-6), it was never 10-3. It was a see-saw most of the game with ATL constantly chipping away at leads then NYM retaking the runs scored (via Alvarez’s 2 HRs).
Yikes!! The Titanic payroll of the Mets has hit the iceberg!
Fans lack knowledge and understanding about the game
Literally no reason to be on Twitter to see what the casuals believe
Saying “Throw it again” is the type of thing that goes on every game in the dugouts
I may be naive but I wouldn’t say every game. In all fairness they wouldn’t say “throw it again” to a highly respected pitcher like Verlander. Some coaches would frown upon it too. Some wouldn’t give two effs. You wouldn’t say it as much in the past probably before the suspensions were basically automatic for throwing at a guy. And obviously the culture has changed too. But even on t.v. we can see hitters staring down the pitcher every at bat even after they strikeout.
I’m not going to say it was intentional or not. I know if it was he missed where he intended to hit him. I’m gonna pose the question whether someone can subconsciously hit someone because they are thinking about it. Everyone in the stadium was wondering “is he gonna get hit” and it reminds me of the saying “don’t think of a pink elephant” which immediately makes you do so. Not saying it’s the case but it’s possible. Especially if you are pitching him inside and you know if you hit him it’s gonna be a thing.
@Rishi:
Charlie definitely was not throwing at Pete. He’s a pro. What Pete did deserves an eye-roll, not a plunking.
@bhambrave Charlie has led the league in hitting guys what, four times? Is that the breaking stuff or an ill temper?
He’s showing more control this season, but SSS caveats apply.
Like I said, the Mets are not as good with Baty. The Vogelbach trade was a disaster
Send Baty and Vientos to AAA and get Vogelbach off the team and things might improve
But novice fans believe just because a guy is a prospect that he’s attained god status
The worst enemy of the Mets or any team is their own foolish fan bases
Peterson, Vientos, Baty, Parada, Jett Williams should be dealt out and they should have never been drafted to begin with
The only legitimate prospect the Mets have had since the 80s is Francisco Alvarez. They do not know how to identify and draft top talent
Parada? Jett Williams? More terrible picks
What??? The Vogelslug trade a disaster?? Well Citifield faithful, big Dan Vogelslug will lift the Mets on his broad shoulders, go on a massive HR tear, lift his batting avg.to .210 and make everyone forget about Polar Bear Pete!
(DISCLAIMER; THIS IS KNOWN AS SARCASM!)
The Mets are looking at a future core of Brett Baty, Vientos, Kevin Parada, and Jett Williams
You have to be kidding me. That isn’t even remotely a winning core
Alvarez is something to build on but one guy isnt enough. Instead of Kelenic, I was calling for Nolan Gorman with that pick
You’re never going to get anywhere unless you can identify the stronger talent
They just would have moved Gorman in the Cano trade so it wouldn’t have mattered.
I don’t care that he said what he said and he handled being hit very professionally whether intentional or not. But to say that it was “friendly banter” is ridiculous. It happens all the time. I get that. Just admit you are mocking the pitcher and trying to get in his head. He seemed to feel he was painted in an unfair light (to a degree he was, to a degree he wasn’t) and went out of his way to present himself very professionally in the interview. Either that or he is legitimately not pi**ed that he’s hurt and is that nice of a dude. Judging by the “friendly banter” he was exchanging I question the latter. Tho again he did nothing “wrong” in a sense at least.
firing Eppler for creating this mess would be a huge step in the right direction now!! do it Uncle Steve
I think a significant portion of the blame goes to Cohen, who clearly wanted to chase the sexy names like Scherzer and Verlander when they would have arguably been better off keeping some of the pitchers they had last year.
It’s easy to say in hindsight and I agree. Cohen was also trying to make a splash in a his bid for a NYC casino license. Lots of season left and if the Mets win the WS, you bet he’ll have a lot more people lobbying for him.
All the top guys on my fantasy team get injured. I had Alonso and traded him, I traded Urias, I traded Alonso as part of a deal for Yordan, and then drGrom. I’m still hovering around 2nd and 3rd out of 12, somehow. I guess they mainly get injured after. Then, again, I traded Semien and released Heim, and I regret that.
Everyone talking about people being too sensitive about what he said. Well, to say that fans shouldn’t get into the HBP is being too sensitive and naive. It’s human nature. Sports are like this. What about football and hockey? Only recently has this been removed from baseball (hitting catchers for instance). Nobody knew he was injured at first. We human beings used to throw people into gladiatorial matches or lions dens for entertainment. We are all so sensitive today. At the end of the day you need to respect that the guy on the mound you are mocking is throwing a ball at you 90mph+. So thinking you can say what you want is naive. Hint:I’m playing devils advocate here. I don’t approve of him being hit in the hand. Talk trash back to them. Or don’t. That’s probably the proper solution.
People act WAY differently in crowds. The collective IQ goes WAY down (so does empathy). This is well known scientifically. People do things they ordinarily wouldn’t. I remember at game 5 of WS in 2021 one drunk redneck in “The Battery” was yelling “Duck Altuve.” Everyone was clearly annoyed and was silent. But he just kept on doing it and eventually half the people joined in.
Big brother: Braves
Little brother: Mets
Biggest Brother: Dodgers.
I didn’t even watch the game but it was probably intentional. Considering Baseball players have a tendency to be little bitches when it comes to other players celebrating home runs. It wouldn’t surprise me at all of Alonso was plunked purposely for that.
Mr big dig gets the second highest prize for idiotic comments, right behind the guy who said he was glad Alonso got injured.
Alonso had two more ABs after the HR when they could have plunked him. Plunking him the next game does nothing.
@Sanfranb27 wouldn’t the best way to make it look “unintentional” be waiting a few ABs or a game or two?
Either way I think it’s messed up that players would alter another players career via injury for celebrating a home run.
I expect retribution somewhere in August.
There’s a lot of incorrect information here, and you admitted you didn’t watch the game, so I get it. No one cared that Alonso celebrated a homerun. In fact, I think the game is better for the celebrations. It’s entertainment. The players care that after he celebrated, he called out a rookie pitcher and essentially mocked him for daring to throw that pitch to him. Alonso should continue to rip his shirt off, hump dugout rails, stare at his homeruns, and scream in excitement whenever he wants. This isn’t sarcasm. Pete does these things often, and I think they’re good for the game. Kids love it. But where it gets murky is when you start calling out an individual on the other team. That’s less of a celebration and more of a jerk move. We all make mistakes. Pete was excited and went too far. I’m not going to judge him on one mistake, but I personally don’t want to see that again. I think insulting other players because you hit a homerun is a bit classless, more so when it’s a vet insulting rookie.
“It wouldn’t surprise me at all of Alonso was plunked purposely for that.”
You have to watch that pitch. It’s wasn’t intentional. The ball had a lot of movement to it running inside on Alonso. Almost all the time when a pitch is thrown intentionally to hit a batter, it’s a straight four seam fastball. Morton’s body language as well wasn’t that of a pitcher who hit a batter intentionally. That stuff of retaliation hitting is becoming less and less in the game s
I had DeGrom, Stanton and Paxton on my fantasy IL team. I’m in first in that league.
THROW IT AGAIN!
There was nothing bad about this, just good banter! Morton even apologized to him in the clubhouse after the game. There is no bad feelings
This Mets are cooked. Done.
I hope they are. Most unlikeable team in MLB. Their fans are worse than Phillies fans, and that is a hard feat to accomplish. Cohen is a poor Steinbrenner want to be. I wish the Mets, and their scuzzy fans, the same long run of futility that the better New York team had from 1982 to 1996.
None of this is true. Fanbases don’t have a single personality. There are a lot of people on big cities. A lot of them are awful. Plenty are nice. Philly sports media is generally awful. NY is a mixed bag. But despite what people will tell you, the fanbases are exactly alike, a gaggle of city folk, good and bad.
People don’t like big spending teams because they lose that underdog mentality. Max Scherzer is pretty hard to root for. Alonso is a nice guy, but he’s a bit of a meathead. I’m not a Mets fan, but they’re no more despicable, than any other squad.
Hello Von,
I remember our discussion a while back about the Mets plight.
I of course was correct and my prediction is aging quite well.
@Robrock30 You were. I expected some struggles for the Mets, and I knew once Hoskins went down the Phillies would be in trouble, so I can’t say I’m surprised the Braves are so far ahead. I’m shocked the Marlins have been as consistent as they are. Plenty of baseball left. I predicted that the Phillies would go on a run in June, and they’re currently on a 5-game winning streak, but we’ll see if they can keep it up. I’m starting to think the NLE will only have two playoff teams, and one of them will obviously be the Braves.
Von,
The Marlins are for real. I watched them play the Mets in ST and they have young strong arms and a young athletic core that should improve 2nd half. If the Phillies prospect Sixto Sanchez returns look out very impressive.
They made a great trade with the Twins to obtain Luis Arraez, Soler, De La Cruz, Jazz Chisholm, and your old friend and mine from his days as an Angels prospect Segura looking good.
@Robrock30 Hey! How’s it going? Hope all’s well.
Yup, you were right (of course), as was I. This was not a well-crafted team. It was assembled with little attention to the whole, and with little if any sense of being undergirded by a three- to five-year plan, or even any sense that the season is six months long and is followed by an almost month-long postseason.
Anyone more than vaguely aware of that would hardly assemble the oldest rotation in baseball history with only half a bullpen behind it where the only multi-inning reliever is Stephen (Two Home Runs per Nine) Nogosek, or an antique lineup with only a very limited bench in support.
This is a little worse than I figured it would be, but not a lot worse.
If the pitcher hits a batter on purpose I would agree with you. In this instance Morton did not hit him on purpose. Morton is just an old beyond his prime pitcher.
JackStrawb,
Nice to hear from you my Brother. I am doing well and yes we were both right about this Met debacle which just keeps getting worse.
Last night losing 14 – 7 to Pittsburgh by a touchdown was reminiscent of the old Benny Hill Television Show. The team is fundamentally poor which is a testament to their GM, manager & coaching. The Team needs to be nuked ASAP starting with the FO. This is the worst team $ can buy and Cohen needs to do the dirty work as he can’t spend his way out.
Look at Pittsburgh with his chest puffed out, wait till July when the Buccos tank like they always do
THROW IT AGAIN!!!!!
Only one way to settle this- STEEL CAGE MATCH!!!
About these home run celebrations: a writer once asked Paul Warfield why he didn’t celebrate scoring a touchdown like Billy “White Shoes” Johnson and instead just handed the football to a referee. Warfield said, “Because I want to act like I’ve been in the end zone before.” There’s a lot to be said for that outlook.
Love that quote. “Act like you’ve done it before” is irreplaceable advice.
Morton should be immediately suspended for hitting a batter with a thrown ball that resulted in lost time due to the resulting injury. Totally unfair in that neither the pitcher or the Atlanta team suffers any consequences while the Mets lose the services of Alonzoton for an as yet undetermined amount of time. The, “OOPS, S-O-R-R-Y, Well, it’s just part of the game” from Morton and the Braves organization just isn’t enough of an offsetting penalty.
Whether the player injured by the thrown pitch, is making multi millions or the league minimum, doesn’t matter. An injury has been caused. A penalty needs to be imposed. MLB needs to step-up.
If MLB is truly committed to prevent injury to batters due to pitched balls,
it can:
#1 Implement an improved substance/method for pitchers to grip baseballs.
#2 Strictly enforce forbidding batters from obliterating the lines that define the batter’s box.
#3 Forbid that any part of the batter’s anatomy extend beyond the imaginary line that extends vertically upward from the batter’s box as defined on the ground.
#4 Redefine and move the position of the batter’s box further back from the plate.
At least Morton didn’t pour salt on the wound.
Do you propose punishing a pitcher every time a pitch gets away from him and a batter is sidelined for a while? Seems a little draconian to me.
Malfoy?
It wasn’t a fastball. It was a slider. It wasn’t even that far from hitting the bat. Sucks that Alonso was injured, but your post is ridiculous.
They said it was a sinker on the ATL broadcast. Was definitely not a slider
Point being, it wasn’t a fastball. The intent was not there. Pete knows that. SNY announcers knew it. Fans are looking for something that isn’t there.
If only Cohen’s money could buy injury protection…
Throw it again
So much “this goes on all the time”. That’s kind of irrelevant. Would you behave the way he did? Everyone knows a j*rk move when they see one. I think most people probably would agree it’s rude to say. I played with guys like that in rec ball. They were kind of full of themselves. It’s not an indictment. He can say what he wants. But don’t act like everybody does it because they don’t. Some do. Many don’t. Dare I say most? Especially a teams biggest star. Cause to hit him…probably not. Definitely not if you can’t locate like Morton this year.