Pete Alonso is changing what it means to be a leader in the clubhouse. A special gesture on the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks proved that rookies can be leaders, too.
The 24-year-old planned ahead for the Mets game against the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at Citi Field. Alonso walked around the clubhouse, jotted down his teammates’ shoe sizes and took notes of their personal styles. With the help of his agents, he ordered personalized patriotic cleats for every single teammate to commemorate 9/11. The Mets wore the cleats for the game and beat the D-backs in a 9-0 shutout win by scoring nine runs on 11 hits.
“I just want to give back and I want to help. I don’t just want to be known as a good baseball player. Hopefully, I want to be known as a good person too,” Alonso said.
Putting together this touching tribute was a huge risk on Alonso’s part. The Mets rookie originally had the idea of creating custom hats with first responder groups like NYPD and FDNY decorated on them. But Major League Baseball has a history of disallowing such salutes.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of red tape with Major League Baseball and they shot that idea down,” Alonso said. “I think it’s kind of sad that since that day — the first game back — they shut it down every year since. I think that’s really unfortunate. So a way to kind of get around that was the cleats.”
Alonso didn’t wait for MLB’s approval before he went ahead and ordered cleats for the Mets. The rookie said he was afraid that if MLB got their hands on his next idea, they would not have approved for the cleats to be worn during the game either.
“It’s really important and it’s just a little gift from me to my teammates,” Alonso said. “I’m really happy that everyone wore the shoes. We could’ve gotten fined for it, but everyone was willing to back up the cause.”
The cause, for Alonso, is showing support not just for the victims of the 9/11 attacks, but for their surviving family members as well. Growing up in Tampa, Alonso absorbed the Sept. 11 tragedy from the outside looking in. He remembers being pulled out of school as a first grader and seeing the look of anguish on his parents’ faces.
“No one really knows how deep those emotional scars can be,” Alonso said. “Living here, just kind of interacting with everybody, I’ve tried to immerse myself in the New York living. I see traces of it every single day. Little bits and pieces of it.
“I just want to show recognition to all the people who are heroes. Ordinary people who felt a sense of urgency is an admirable quality. This is for all those people who lost their lives and all those people who did so much to help.”
Alonso spent Wednesday getting to know first responders who were at Citi Field for the Mets game. He wanted to understand as much as he could about that tragic day and how those selfless heroes impacted the country. Alonso hopes the city of New York continues to find ways to move on from that horrific day. His cleats are just a small part of that grieving process.
“It’s not just the victims. It’s the scars left behind, like someone missing their mom or someone missing their dad,” Alonso said. “For me, I can’t imagine what that’s like. The toll isn’t necessarily taken on that day, it’s progressively after, because someone’s not there in their family. It’s different from then on.”
Alonso’s teammates appreciated the gesture. Mets manager Mickey Callaway said most young players wouldn’t do that. Todd Frazier, a nine-year MLB veteran, said Alonso is making his mark on the history of the game.
“It says a lot. It says this game has changed for the good,” Frazier said. “He had a quick meeting about it. He said this is from me. He’s a fantastic young man and he comes from a great upbringing. I met his parents for the first time the other day. You can tell why he’s such a good kid. I hope the best for him.”
