As Pete Alonsoreturned to Citi Field as a visitor for the first time on Monday night, it was easy to predict the kind of adoration he would get from the fans pregame and before each of his times to the plate.
And looking around Citi Field just before first pitch hammered the above home, with most Mets fans -- many of whom wore Alonso jerseys -- on their feet and chanting for Alonso when he was introduced before the game and before his first time up.
But things took a bit of a turn during the game.
While there were loud "PETE ALONSO" chants, there were also "FIRE STEARNS" chants that were borne out of them, which shouldn't have come as a huge surprise since this was the first real chance fans had to clearly voice their displeasure in unison at the team's decision to not retain Alonso.
Something that was actually surprising happened in the top of the third inning, when boos rained down after young right-handerJonah Tong walked Alonso in what was his second time up.
Tong, whose outing that night was his best as a big leaguer, was overwhelmed a bit last season in his first taste of the majors after being called up out of necessity. So to hear boos directed at the Mets after he walked Alonso in that spot (with fans hoping for Alonso to instead smash his 300th career homer) was a bit unnerving.
For the remainder of the game, the fans stood and chanted for Alonso (and against David Stearns) each time he came up, and many of them streamed toward the exits following the top of the eighth inning when Alonso struck out in his last at-bat. The Mets were trailing by just a run at the time, but those who left at that point seemingly decided to bolt because it was unlikely Alonso would be coming back up (and he did not, with Baltimore sealing its 2-1 win an inning later).
On Tuesday night, things took an even wilder turn.
Following another game where Alonso was showered with love and Stearns was the target of taunts, Alonso strolled to the plate with one out in the ninth inning with Kodai Sengaon the mound and the Mets leading, 3-2. On a 2-0 count, Senga's ghost fork caught too much plate at the bottom of the zone, and Alonso demolished it -- sending it well over the left field fence at 109.6 mph.
The response from the Mets fans was thunderous, and didn't stop until Alonso took a curtain call, which was not lost on the Mets' players after the game.
"I’ve got nothing but respect for him and love him to death," Sean Manaea said. "But as a team, as the 2026 Mets, I know we have definitely underperformed. But the guys in here work their ass off every single day. And to have that kind of reaction to an opposing player, could be anybody, is crazy to me."
While Manaea was taken aback, Senga wasn't bothered -- at least outwardly.
"If it wasn't Pete Alonso -- there are other great hitters that are playing for the Mets and are playing elsewhere -- but because it is him, it didn't bother me," Senga said through a translator. "It just shows how much he was loved... how much he meant to this organization."
Even though the reaction by the fans to Alonso's game-tying blast was rare, it wasn't without precedent.
On Aug. 9, 2006, Mike Piazza returned to Shea Stadium as a Padre for the first time since leaving as a free agent.
That night, Piazza blasted a solo homer off Pedro Martinez in the fourth inning, which cut New York's lead to 4-1. As they did on Tuesday night with Alonso, the fans asked for and received a curtain call from Piazza.
In the sixth inning, Piazza hit another solo shot to trim New York's advantage to 4-2. He was cheered again. But the feeling from most in the stands right after (I was in attendance) was that enough was enough. It was time to refocus on the current Mets, who won that game, 4-3.
The differences between the reaction to Piazza and the reaction to Alonso are myriad.
For one, the Mets' win over Piazza and the Padres that night improved their record to 68-44 as they continued to steamroll toward the NL East title.
Second, the writing was very much on the wall during the 2005 season that it would be Piazza's last in Queens. He had a career-low OPS that year as he played just 113 games, and was replaced behind the plate in 2006 by Paul Lo Duca, who was an All-Star that year.
Third and most importantly, there was no fan anger toward the front office or boos for the current team mixed in with the love that was showered on Piazza.
The only other return comparable to Alonso's and Piazza's was the first game back at Shea for franchise icon Tom Seaver after he was shockingly traded to the Reds in the "Midnight Massacre" deal in June of 1977.
On Aug. 21 of that season, Seaver came back and mowed down the Mets while tossing a complete game.
Since I wasn't born until the 80s, I can't speak to what the reaction was that day. But the video tells the story, and it's one of fans loudly saluting Seaver before the game and even cheering for him when he retired Mets players -- including Steve Henderson.
Getting back to the reception for Alonso and the vitriol that has been directed toward the front office the last couple of nights, what stands out the most is that it will be an unresolved situation after Alonso and the Orioles leave town.
The Mets will enter this offseason again looking to replace Alonso's production in the lineup, and it will be Stearns at the helm as they attempt to do it.
Lost in all of this is that aside from a few of Stearns' moves (including letting Alonso go while not adequately replacing his production and relying too much on Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr.), most of the Mets' decision -making this past offseason was sound. Yes, not having Alonso has mattered, but their 2026 campaign was done in largely because of long-term injuries to irreplaceable players who had been the picture of health throughout their career (Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto) and a number of worst-case scenarios playing out.
But it's understandable why many fans remain angry, disillusioned, and laser focused on the absence of Alonso, who endeared himself to the city during his seven seasons in Queens.
The prediction here is that fans will get over this (if not necessarily forgive Stearns) if the team returns to the postseason in 2027. But there is a long way to go between now and then, and the wound is still fresh.
