The best player nicknames in Mets history

Pete Alonso – The Polar Bear

Pete Alonso has been on a path to re-write the New York Mets record books since he arrived. The Mets have had a few pure home run hitters – Dave Kingman, Darryl Strawberry, and Mike Piazza. But none of them has had the sheer power displayed by Alonso.

Alonso brings a presence to the field, to the clubhouse, wherever he goes. He has earned a reputation for clobbering home runs from the very start, setting the Major League rookie record by hitting 53 round-trippers in 2019. It was during that first spring training that teammate Todd Frazier said he looked like a “big stinking polar bear.” And, teammates, of course, latched onto it, the media grabbed hold, and then once Alonso began his barrage of homers, the fans ran with it.

Polar Bear…kind of an unusual tag for a kid from the University of Florida…a Gator. Nonetheless, Alonso has hit 192 home runs in his four plus seasons with the Mets (including the short 2020 season) and shows no signs of slowing down.