Pete Alonso and his dad get candid with The Post about Mets, overcoming childhood bullying ahead of Father's Day

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Mets first baseman Pete Alonso and his father Peter take some hacks with Post columnist Steve Serby in a Father's Day Q&A.
Q: Describe your father, Peter.
Pete: My dad, No. 1, beyond supportive. He's patient. He's understanding. I think the biggest thing about my dad, he's always just wanted me to succeed no matter what I chose to do in life. He kind of taught me the basics where it's like no matter what you do, no matter what your passion is — whether it be like a hobby, a profession, no matter what you choose to endeavor — you have to do it 100 percent. At all times. Whenever you give something attention, you give it 100 percent of your attention. There's no half-assing anything. If you commit to something, you commit and you see it through. And for me, I think that's a powerful thing.
Q: Describe your son.
Peter: I'd say a gentle giant with a huge heart. Everything that he does, he always puts people around him first.
Q: How are you like your father?
Pete: There's a lot of life lessons that he's kind of taught me. I think as a professional, I give all I can give, but then as soon as I leave this door I'm just Pete. I'm a son, a brother, a friend, a husband, soon-to-be father. So for me, it's like as soon as work is done, it's like I am no longer the baseball player, I'm Pete the family man. My dad did an unbelievable job kind of separating … as soon as he walked in the door he's all about me and my brother and my mom. Whether he came from work, it's like, 'All right, I'm coach Pete now,' whether he's coaching me or my brother, or taking us to practice. 'Now I'm not Dad anymore, I'm the tutor guy, I'm the homework guy.' … This is one of the best stories ever. So my dad's taking me to baseball practice — it's probably like a 25-minute drive. And my dad is like, 'Hey, you gotta do homework, I'll help you with your math homework in the car, you just have to do it.' And I'm doing my homework, I broke my pencil, we didn't have a pencil in the car. He's like, 'Listen, your mom is going to absolutely kill me (laugh) if you don't have this homework done. I don't care how easy or hard this is, but all the questions need to be done.'
Q: How were you going to do it without a pencil?
Pete: So what he did was, he was biting down the wood. … He was basically sharpening the pencil with his teeth (smile). He made it work. I know that's kind of like a stupid, silly little moment, but he just kind of was like gently tearing little wood chips off one by one just to get to that piece of lead so I could finish the homework. And my mom would have killed both me and my dad (laugh) if I didn't have that homework done.
Q: Dad, what is your recollection of the pencil story?
Peter: You had to do your homework first before you go to the field and do those kind of things. I probably bit the pencil in half so it would write so he could finish his homework.
Q: How old were you?
Pete: I think I was 12 or 13, something like that.
Q: What did your dad do?
Pete: He worked in professional staffing.
Q: Was there one emotional heart-to-heart you recall?
Pete: I'm really fortunate because my dad kind of wears his heart on his sleeve. I kind of know exactly where he stands at all times. He's not afraid to, like, speak plainly or speak exactly what comes to mind. So if something's kind of weighing on him, he's not afraid to just say it how it is and just tell me. I think the biggest thing is, he's just always there, he's always like, 'How can I help? How can I make your life easier? What can I do?' Having that unrelenting support is just truly special. He takes pride in not just, like, physically being available for things — 24/7 he's always emotionally available.
Q: How often does he come up to New York?
Pete: He'll actually be up here this weekend. During the season, my parents always come once a month or so, whether it's here or on the road.
Q: When you were a kid, you internalized things and you were bullied and taunted. Did your dad guide you through that?
Peter: I think the biggest thing that he said is, it's about just being the bigger person, not stooping to their level. Obviously, there are certain ways to handle certain situations, and regardless, despite how other people are, you have to hold yourself to a standard. If you don't have character, you really have no leg to stand on. I think for me, building character and staying disciplined in certain things, that spoke volumes for sure.
Q: What did you tell Pete when he was bullied and taunted as a boy?
Peter: He was taunted about just being bigger than the other kids. … Our message to him was how special he is, and that people are just jealous of the gift that he has, and to keep your chin up and just keep doing the best you can. A lot of things are going to change, and great things will happen to you.
Q: What did it mean to him the day you made your major league debut?
Pete: I don't take this granted. He's like, 'Listen, proud of not just what you do on the field but how you go about your business, how you've kind of went along this journey and kind of like took on obstacles and never really backed down from anything.' He was just very prideful. Very, very prideful.
Q: What was it like emotionally for you Peter, when Pete made his MLB debut in D.C.?
Peter: Honestly, my stomach was in knots. I knew he had it in him. He was fine. I was a wreck. I'm normally the cool, calm guy when it comes to baseball and stuff, but I was not.
Q: Do you remember his reaction when you broke Aaron Judge's rookie home run record?
Pete: He was excited, but I think one of the really cool things was actually in 2021 where I think I was the second-fastest player to 100 homers by a certain amount of games, and then me and him are in the lobby after the game in Miami just kind of talking about it. Even now today, it's still crazy to wrap my mind around … everything. I mean, yeah it's happening, I'm competing and it's my reality, but it's still kind of crazy, and I think for both of us it's just really special.
Q: Your car accident, how frightening was it for you and for him when he learned about it?
Pete: Just hearing about it, seeing the pictures, he was shaken up, but if there's anybody that took it hardest I think it was my wife because she kind of saw it. We were driving together at spring training, she watched a car pretty much right in front of me T-bone me, and then me flip and do all this stuff.
Peter: It looked like an Indy car wreck or something, it was just car parts all over the place. He was standing up very casually talking to an officer explaining what happened and whatnot. … Just a huge relief.
Q: Your parents were in Cleveland for your Home Run Derby win in 2019.
Pete: Honestly, that whole experience, rookie year, first full season in the big leagues … I think it was just magic … for everybody.
Peter: That was fun. That was like a homecoming. We have several friends and relatives in Ohio. I was just happy he was doing it so he could enjoy his 8-year-old self. After his first five or six swings when he started to lock in, I was like, 'Uh-oh!' And then he just went on a roll.
Q: In the offseason when you might have been stressing out about not returning to the Mets, did he have any advice for you?
Pete: The biggest stressor of the offseason was kind of just being displaced from my wife and our home, and I was just trying to get everything back together from the flood, from the hurricane. After Hurricane Helene, my wife and I were displaced. And we had to pretty much redo our home. It'll be pretty much two years without being in our house.
Q: What were your emotions, Peter, when he signed back with the Mets?
Peter: We [wife Michelle] were super-excited. The Mets are home, the Mets gave him his opportunity when he was drafted out of the University of Florida. I was born in Queens, his grandfather lived in Queens, so New York and the Mets are home. Also to see a winning culture emerging within the Mets team and organization was very fulfilling. We felt that Peter has been a big part of moving the Mets culture, so it was like job's not finished and you get to go back and continue your calling.
Q: How happy was he that you signed back with the Mets?
Pete: He just wanted what's best for me. He was just super supportive of the whole process, and he was very confident that the right thing would happen at the right time.
Q: What do you recall about him on your wedding day?
Pete: He was really emotional, but obviously he was so stoked. That's a super proud moment I feel like as a father to watch your kid stand up there. That's a major life accomplishment. He was really beaming. It was really nice.
Q: What were your emotions on his wedding day, Dad?
Peter: We were just filled with joy. We're so blessed. She is such a jewel and a doll. If I had a daughter I'd want a daughter like her. She's awesome.
Q: How supportive has your wife, Haley, been, and what kind of a difference has it made for you as a baseball player?
Pete: I'm really fortunate because my dad loves spending time with her, and to have that relationship I think is key for, like, a whole family unit. My wife really enjoys spending time with my dad likewise, and I think having that great relationship is awesome. I feel very, very blessed.
Q: When is she due?
Pete: She's 24 weeks now.
Q: Boy or girl?
Pete: It's going to be a boy.
Q: A name yet?
Pete: No name yet.
Q: Next Father's Day you'll be a father.
Pete: I'm really excited. It's a blessing to kind of create life, and it's an honor to be a parent, it's a privilege. My wife and I were at that stage in life where it's like being able to want to start a family and to have that opportunity, we're really blessed. It's been a great pregnancy so far. We're just really excited thinking about, like, kids, and what our Thanksgivings and Christmases and stuff are going to be like.
Q: How did you celebrate Father's Day growing up?
Pete: Whether it's spending time just hanging out at the pool, my dad loves to cook, loves to barbecue, stuff like that. My dad also loves being on the water, being on the boat, stuff like that. My dad is big on time. No matter what quality time we had, that's what he wanted to do, just spend time.
Q: Any Father's Day gift for your father?
Pete: I'll have something for him. It was just his birthday not too long ago, so he gets the double dip.
Q: What are you most proud of having him as your father?
Pete: I just feel really lucky, and I'm proud that he is my dad because he walks the walk in the lessons that he preaches to my brother and I. He lived by those, and he never really deviated. He's super consistent in his ideologies and advice. He wouldn't just say something because it was the right thing and then go do something else. He treated my mom and my brother and I with respect and with love. He just held himself to a very high standard, and he's like, 'OK, if I'm the man of the house, I'm going to provide and be there emotionally.' Anytime my brother and I want to go do something, he's like, 'Absolutely, we're going to do it.' He would always be there spending time or coaching me and my brother: 'You want to go swimming. let's go swimming.' He'd be willing to go to the ends of the earth for my mom, my brother and I, and I can't appreciate and thank him enough for that.
Q: Is he as proud of you as a man as he is proud of you as a baseball player?
Pete: Yeah, he's like, 'You could be pumping gas, but as long as you're a loving and caring individual who treats people the right way and lives the right way, then I'd be super proud.'
Q: Sum up why you are so proud of your son.
Peter: I'm proud of the person he is … his generosity … he makes things better around him than he left them … his positive energy … and his resilience. Those are the character traits that shine through of the son that we brought up, and it is hugely fulfilling and we feel super-blessed, and we keep pinching ourselves to this day.
Q: Describe his go-ahead home run in the ninth inning off Devin Williams in the deciding game of last year's wild-card round.
Peter: That was an outer-body experience. We sensed that something was going to happen. With the look in his eye, he just seemed calm and up for the moment. We were in our living room jumping up and down.
Q: You're zeroing in on the Mets' all-time home run record, with 243. Darryl Strawberry has 262.
Pete: It's great, but for me, it's a personal record — I just want to win. I just want to win. And however I can contribute, I want to contribute. That's what it's all about it.
Q: Have you ever felt more dangerous at the plate?
Pete: Yeah, family backyard Wiffle Ball games (smile), that's probably the most dangerous I feel.
Q: When your mother was throwing to you?
Pete: (Smile) Yeah, exactly. This is by far the most consistent I've felt in my career pretty much the entire year.
Q: Describe that feeling when you know you're dangerous.
Pete: I just feel consistent, I feel consistent in my mechanics. I feel like I'm myself pitch to pitch. And that's all I want to be. I just want to be myself. I want to have the best version of myself every swing, every take, every time the pitcher releases the ball.
Q: I've noticed you seated at a table writing notes after games.
Pete: That's my book of secrets.
Q: How long have you done that?
Pete: Every year has its own book of secrets. I've been writing notes pretty much since college. For me, I think writing things down [is] powerful.
Q: People are talking about you having an MVP season.
Pete: It's nice, I appreciate it. It's still really early, and ultimately I just want to contribute, help the team win. I think last year getting a true taste of what postseason baseball is like … in 2022, it was just three games [losing to Padres in wild card round], but this year it's like I'm so motivated to get back to the postseason because that is the ultimate form of baseball. It's an addictive type of baseball, and I want to do everything in my power to help get the team back there again and then also go further than what we did and hold up the trophy at the end of the year. I want nothing more than to be in that environment again and have that chance to play for a championship. Winning isn't guaranteed, that's for sure, but to have that honor and privilege to roll the dice again in October … playoff baseball's the ultimate. I just want to do whatever I can to help the team get there and succeed when we're there.
Q:. What do you like best about this team?
Pete: I think that the way that we're structured is obviously we grew in talent from last year, but I think that the coolest part is we have so similar faces, so it's not a completely different team. We have so many of the same faces where it's like, hey, this is almost the same group as last year, and we have that shared bond, shared experience together. Not only is it good for camaraderie and stuff like that, but it's great for teamwork, it's great for knowing personnel and also because all of us had the same experience last year going to the postseason and going on that run, we're not just motivated to get there again, we want to go further, and everyone has that extra edge. I don't think I got the bug — everybody does. Everyone's got that yearning and that want every single day to get back there. I know it's 3 ¹/₂ months away, but I blinked and it's already halfway through June.
Q: Why is it so much fun playing in New York?
Pete: People have been itching to come out to games, and it's been awesome. Everybody's rowdy, everybody's engaged. It's really like having a 10th Man out there. It's honestly great. And you can kind of feel it whenever the crowd is more and more engaged, more times things start to happen in our favor, it's awesome.
Q: What is it like sharing the city with the Yankees with both teams doing so well?
Pete: I think it's great for the city. The more teams that do well in New York, the more that the city's alive and buzzing and hopping. It's fantastic.
Q: Would you want to retire as a Met?
Pete: That could be awesome. It's really rare for a guy to spend his whole career with one team — I mean, I've thought about it, for sure. But the business side of things has to work out for that. I love playing here. It's awesome. I hope that the business side works out to be that way.
Q: Would you like to see Pete retire as a Met?
Peter: I want to see [him] succeed wherever he's at, so it would be great if he retires as a Met. And, if he doesn't, I wouldn't want to be in the other dugout.
Q: I don't think Mets fans would be happy if Pete was to leave.
Pete: I hope that the business side works out to where I don't have to do that (smile).