Pete Alonso knows how to make a great first impression.
It helps that the man they call the Polar Bear is also blessed with some of the best power of his generation, something he has gotten to show in full force first as a member of the New York Mets and now in his first season with the Baltimore Orioles.
Alonso is the all-time leader in home runs in a Mets uniform, but this offseason, the Mets didn’t want to bring him back, so he left town and signed a nine-figure contract with the Orioles.
Baltimore hasn’t quite ascended to its postseason goals, but it’s not because of Alonso. He has been as advertised and continues slugging down the stretch.
Alonso recently passed 300 career home runs and sits at 304 and counting after going deep on Monday night.
That includes 40 home runs this season, reaching that impressive round number as the Orioles took on the Blue Jays on Monday.
With that 40th homer also came some history for Alonso.
Pete Alonso Mets, Orioles Combined History
Alonso has become the first player to hit at least 40 home runs in his first season in both the National League and American League, according to OptaStats.
This, of course, is Alonso’s first season in the AL, and he’s up to 40 home runs.
His first season in the NL was when he had one of the best rookie debuts in recent memory: Alonso blasted 53 homers for the Mets in 2019 after not having had a single major league at bat before that year.
In his first season playing in the NL, Pete Alonso hit 53 homers.
In his first season playing in the AL, he has hit 40.
He’s the only player all-time to hit 40+ homers in his first season in each league. pic.twitter.com/jjEoxVolcQ
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 22, 2026
This marks Alonso’s fourth 40-homer season overall. He also hit 40 in 2022 and 46 in 2023.
Pete Alonso’s First Season With Orioles
Alonso has been his usual self throughout his first season in Baltimore.
He has played every day, which isn’t a shock after he played in 162 games each of his final two years in New York.
Alonso also currently holds the AL lead in RBI, with 108. He’s even tied his career-high in stolen bases and is 5-of-6 swiping bags.
He’s also working on his best on-base percentage (.359) of his career, and Alonso already has a career-high 78 walks.
It’s certainly the kind of season that can make it easy for the Mets to regret losing him. New York felt it was doing a big shakeup this offseason in a whole slate of transactions meant to avoid another late-season collapse. Instead, the Mets didn’t even get the chance to collapse, because they were never in the race.
Alonso may not be in the playoffs either, but based on the recent ovations he got from Mets fans, they sure do miss him.
Pete Alonso Makes Combined Mets, Orioles Baseball History