Pete Alonso may only be a rookie, but he apparently already knows what it takes to endear himself to New York sports fans.
The New York Mets slugger, who has embraced his newfound home in the Big Apple, decided to honor those who lost their lives on the September 11 terrorist attack. As SNY reported, Alonso personally ordered custom cleats for all of his teammates commemorating 9/11. The Mets players took to the field wearing the cleats in Wednesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, which was an idea that Alonso reportedly came up with himself.
Tim Healey, the Mets beat reporter for Newsday, reported via Twitter that it took quite a bit of planning for Pete Alonso to pull off the feat. He spent weeks planning to have the cleats specially made, and had them shipped to Citi Field ahead of the team’s game on 9/11. The shoes had red, white, and blue designs and showed images of the American flag, lettering for the NYPD, FDNY, and EMT, and the phrase, “We will never forget.” As Healey reported, Alonso also called on Mets clubhouse leaders, including Jacob deGrom, to get all the players to join in wearing the cleats.
The custom-made cleats made their way onto the Mets broadcast on Wednesday night, which earned Alonso some viral attention and plenty of praise.
This is not the first time that Pete Alonso has honored first responders. As The Inquisitr reported, Alonso used part of his $1 million prize for winning the Home Run Derby to support a pair of causes close to his heart — the Wounded Warrior Project and Tunnel to Towers, which honor the sacrifice of first responders who lost their lives on 9/11.
“I feel like a really strong bond with those people who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice,” Alonso said at the time, via Fox Business . “And also on the same token, on the flip side, the same people that are willing to make that sacrifice to protect us here at home, whether it’s firefighters, EMTs, cops, there’s so many people that are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice every day. They don’t know what they’re going to go into when they go into work. A bad day at work for them is a lot different than me going 0-for-4 or getting booed off the field.”
You know, @Pete_Alonso20 just gets it. To honor the victims of 9/11, Alonso had custom cleats ordered for the entire team to wear tonight. Just another reminder that he’s no ordinary rookie. pic.twitter.com/U2O32qxL0Z
— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) September 12, 2019
Pete Alonso orchestrated the Mets’ wearing of commemorative 9/11-themed cleats tonight.
He planned it for weeks, ordered & paid for everybody’s shoes and enlisted other clubhouse leaders (including Jacob deGrom) to get everyone on board. pic.twitter.com/fiJbYCU8mq
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) September 12, 2019
To make Pete Alonso’s story even better, the New York Mets defeated the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night — scoring nine runs on 11 hits.
