Friday night as we left Citifield my brother Chris turned to me and said, “it’s amazing that Pete Alonso isn’t more of the face of baseball.” At first I didn’t think it was an issue…it takes time and effort and you have to literally hit it right, and “The Polar Bear” has been an amazing force in and around New York. Then I thought about it again…and it is a little surprising that the two time Home Run Derby Champion isn’t more of the marketing face of baseball, even compared to his crosstown rival Aaron Judge. Why?
He isn’t flashy. He is still young. He is thoughtful. At a time when we know we need more diversity he doesn’t really check that box (he is Hispanic btw…Spanish roots make you Hispanic). He isn’t gargantuan in stature. I get all that that.
He has agreements with Fanatics (memorabilia and autographs), Topps and Panini (trading cards), Nike (batting gloves, spikes and other items that are not team provided), Dove Tail Bats and Wilson (fielding glove). He’s an ambassador for New Era and T-Mobile, and is the face of the MLB-produced Home Run Derby game. He has a burger line, and there are probably more “Polar Bear” pieces coming as well. But if you go away from New York, not much yet.
What he is…is humble, kind and the right fit for many.
While the cynical New York fan waits for the gotcha moment and the fall from grace or the cataclysmic slump or career threatening injury down the line, Alonso’s engagement is still one for the ages in an era when athlete brand is tantamount for everyone.
His cheerleading is always authentic and he became a student of the game with his carefully crafted…WRITTEN…notebooks. This past week when the Mets needed a lift, there was the Home Run Pony in the dugout, with Alonso on board. There is the fun that the team has created around the artist formerly known as Donnie Stevenson (Steve Serby has a good piece on how much fun the team is, with Alonso being the center of much of it).
He is thoughtful beyond his years, especially using the limelight to lift others, like he did with the cleats he designed for his entire team on the 9/11 anniversary and the subsequent donation of his design to the 9/11 Museum, or his Polar Bear Foundation and his donations of tickets for large discounts.
He still treats every fan encounter as genuine and authentic, and had a great sense of being in the moment that he handles with grace, respect, and even…gasp…humility. In a time when athletes and celebrities drop F Bombs “just because” he even tempered his language for the audience, realizing the impact he could have on young people (even with LFGM become a cause celebre’, replete with T-shirts and hashtags).
He embraces the social space carefully and smartly, rarely straying into the controversial.
All true.
However the most important element he brings to everyone he touches. Is FUN. Boyish curisoty and fun. And like Giannis. JOY
That’s what Pete Alonso brings to all that he touches. A great sense of where he is, and the awareness that maybe, just maybe, it could all vanish in a cynical and fate twisting cloud. He emotes feelings to the last day and emits boundless Joy. It is conveyed in everything he does.
I have no idea where Pete Alonso’s career will go, and I certainly hope he keeps maturing well beyond his years, but the ability to know one’s place and make a little different in the lives of others isn’t always easy, and it isn’t always recognized, but his subtle and over actions are worthwhile and noteworthy in such a tumultuous business.
It is a joy to behold Pete, and it may not be able to convey for the long haul, but don’t stop trying. The impact he has in such a small window in the prism of time is remarkable, and it is something that will bring joy as his next stage unfolds…
If there is a player to watch and invest in for all the right reasons, putting money on Pete Alonso may be a pretty safe bet. Maybe not the flashiest, but the right one, right time, and hopefully well into the fall.
