Agee and Aspromonte. Alfonzo and Agbayani. Alou (Moises) and Anderson (Marlon). The possibility that two Mets whose last names began with an ‘A’ could each produce an HR in the same game has intermittently existed over the decades. I have confirmed Bob Aspromonte and Tommie Agee indeed went deep in tandem on May 18, 1971, as did Fonzie and Benny on September 12, 2000. Alas, no such connection exists between the MA&MA boys listed above.
But THREE Mets whose last names begin with an ‘A’ doing the ultimate damage to baseballs in the very same game? Why, you’d need a proven slugger; a budding slugger; and maybe a rookie who we weren’t told is any kind of slugger. That combination could jump-start your offense in the time it would take to call AAA.
Meet Pete Alonso [1], Francisco Alvarez [2] and Luisangel Acuña [3], the three A-list batters who could give the American Automobile Association a run for its money, while simultaneously putting a dent in the pitching staff of the Washington Nationals. On Tuesday night at Citi Field, each of the three took a different Nat over a fence.
What kind of grade do you suppose they deserved for that performance?
Pete Alonso has been a little inconsistent about raising Apples this year. Sure, he has 33 home runs, but…actually, 33 home runs is a lot, isn’t it? Hasn’t seemed like it. Maybe it’s all the chasing of low and outside pitches between home runs. No wonder that the goosebumps the Polar Bear gave us Tuesday were only partly homer-derived. He blooped the best-placed single you’re ever gonna see in right to drive in the runs that gave the Mets the lead in the third. It was as if Samson’s hair grew back all at once. Later there’d be a ringing double serving to preface his three-run dinger. Pete is locked in, one is tempted to say. Pete is back, one is tempted to add. Pete should never be anywhere else, one is tempted to decide. One probably oughta settle for simply luxuriating in Alonso’s three hits and five RBIs and hoping more of each will follow.
Francisco Alvarez has hidden his power most of 2024. Lately, though, POW! That home run that put away the Jays last Wednesday. The tater that helped mash the Phillies on Friday. And in this game, he launched one so high and so obviously gone that it took him a couple of seconds to commence his trot. Me, I’d start running right away, but I don’t know what it’s like to hit anything like that.
The ‘X’ factor among the ‘A’ team was Luisangel Acuña, whose game is allegedly more about slashing and speed. For Syracuse this year, he homered seven times. In no minor league campaign had he exceeded a dozen longballs. Well, in his fourth major league game, he blasted his first home run, which represents a pace of awesome. After going 3-for-4, including delivering the double that carried his first ribbie, Luisangel’s batting .455. That would certainly be a pace to keep up.
I must confess to time-shifted giddiness at having witnessed the exploits of Alonso, Alvarez and Acuña live and in person, as I was in Met-aphorical hand-sitting mode when those homers were hit, necessitated by my perspective from the Citi Field press box. No cheering there, you know. Just furtive signals of approval from this totally objective reporter as the Mets mounted their 10-1 rout [4] of the Nationals. Ditto for my quiet appreciation of the solid six innings from starting pitcher Tylor Megill, who’s coming to remind me of another Met whose name began with an ‘A,’ Rick Aguilera. Aguilera (author of three home runs when men were men) was the fifth starter who pitched as well as any of his rotationmates in the latter stages of 1986. Aggie came in quite handy in the postseason.
Might Meggie, who we don’t call that? Might there be postseason baseball for the 2024 Mets, fifth starters and everybody else? Based on the out-of-town scoreboard, it shouldn’t be ruled out. Oh, don’t assume it, because to ass-ume might make Atlanta and Arizona angry, but, then again, who cares what they think? Agitate the A right off their respective logos if you like! They both lost on Tuesday. The Brave defeat drew the evening’s biggest cheer at Citi (the one time I really did have a hard time holding back on expressing my glee out loud). The Diamondbacks dropping their contest came later, but it might have been even more significant. While the Braves have fallen two behind us for the third and final Wild Card, the Snakes slipped into a tie for the second one with us…and we have the tiebreaker over them.
At this late hour, I’m now seeing the Astros — this ‘A’ theme is the gift that keeps on giving — have finished ahead of the Padres in their West Coast affair. Suddenly, we’re 2½ behind San Diego for Wild Card One, and we have a tiebreaker on them, too. I would have thought that asking all our adversaries to lose on the same night would be too much. But who would have thought to have asked for any of this?