It’s cool if this is Pete Alonso’s last Home Run Derby

Pete Alonso will be participating in the 2022 MLB Home Run Derby for the third time in as many opportunities. He won the whole dang thing in 2019 as a rookie with the New York Mets. He followed up with a re-Pete in 2022 when the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby returned.

He’ll be back in 2022 to defend his title. Regardless of how things turn out for the Mets slugger, it’s cool if this is the last time he ever participates.

Mets slugger Pete Alonso can ride off into Home Run Derby retirement after this year

The Home Run Derby is beginning to get closer to the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest. That event at the NBA All-Star Game rarely features the best players in the game. MLB’s Home Run Derby usually has the best sluggers participate early on in their careers. As time goes on, they bow out.

Alonso seems to actually enjoy the home run clinic. He has fun doing it. He raises his marketability and gets to show off what he does best.

Watching him crush his way to victory is a fun mid-season event Mets fans can look forward to. After this year, Alonso can call it quits without explanation and go down as a Home Run Derby legend already.

There has been some thought of a “Home Run Derby Curse” or at least a notion that the tournament can mess with a player’s swing in the second half. It’s not really true. While some guys have slumped in the second half after their participation, it’s hardly a guarantee. The Madden Cover Curse has far more credence.

Alonso has managed to go two-for-two in avoiding any major slump after. He is more of a natural home run hitter in the league so it probably helps him get back on the field with the Mets shortly after and playing at the same high level he normally does.

If this is it for Alonso, that’s cool. A three-Pete is about as good as it gets in sports.

Plus, as he gets older but stays immature forever (we can only hope), the All-Star Break may indeed become something he looks for to for the break itself. The baseball season is a long grind. And if the Mets start making the playoffs and add a few extra games to their schedule, the mid-July off-days may mean a lot more.