Pete Alonso's historic season gained its final bullet-point accomplishment Monday night: National League Rookie of the Year.
In an expected landslide after one of the best rookie seasons in major-league history, Alonso was named the league's top first-year player, receiving 148 points and 29 out of 30 first-place votes.
He beat out the Braves' Mike Soroka (82 points, 1 first-place vote) and the Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. (26 points). The award was voted on before the start of the postseason by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, which announced the results Monday.
A non-roster invitee to spring training, Alonso spent his first season in the bigs establishing himself as a team leader, a fan favorite and a key piece of the Mets' future while setting all sorts of major-league and franchise records. A sampling of his feats:
_ His 53 homers led the majors, set a Mets single-season record and broke the major-league rookie season mark. Alonso became the first Mets player and first rookie to lead the majors outright in homers.
_ His 348 total bases and 85 extra-base hits also were the most in a season in Mets history. His 120 RBIs were tied for the third-highest total in one year, behind only Mike Piazza in 1999 and David Wright in 2008 (124 each).
_ His 120 RBIs and 103 runs made him the eighth Mets player to post a 100/100 season. It hadn't happened since 2008, when Wright and Carlos Beltran _ Alonso's new manager _ did it.
To contextualize Alonso's statistical impressiveness, consider the Mets' internal preseason projections. Team decision-makers figured that with something close to a best-case scenario, the Mets could get 40 home runs from the first-base position in 2019, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen told Newsday recently. But they thought that sum would come from some combination of the foursome who entered spring training competing for the job: Alonso, Dominic Smith, Todd Frazier and J.D. Davis.
The Mets led the majors with 54 homers from first basemen: 52 from Alonso, two from Smith. (Alonso's other one came as a pinch hitter.)
"As it turned out, we were light with the 40 home runs," Van Wagenen said. "And it all came from one guy, which is pretty remarkable."
Along the way, Alonso _ who hit .260 with a .358 OBP and .583 slugging percentage _ endeared himself to the fan base with a genuine enthusiasm and energy and a willingness to speak his mind.
In July, right as the Mets were starting a hot streak that injected them into the wild-card race, Alonso posted to social media a pump-up letter to fans, which included a tweaked version of their "LGM" slogan for "Let's go Mets." In September, Alonso orchestrated the Mets' wearing of 9/11 first responder tribute cleats, which required a degree of subversion after Major League Baseball told him the team couldn't wear special hats.
Coming to camp as no sure thing to make the Opening Day roster, Alonso on his first day in Port St. Lucie spoke of wanting to "force someone's hand." He homered in his first exhibition at-bat, received regular praise from then-manager Mickey Callaway for his defense and all-around game and made it obvious that he was the Mets' best option at first base.
Alonso asserted his dominance in the Rookie of the Year race early, winning NL Rookie of the Month for April, during which he totaled nine homers and 26 RBIs. He also won that award for June and September.
Alonso is the sixth Mets player to win Rookie of the Year, following Jacob deGrom (2014), Dwight Gooden (1984), Darryl Strawberry (1983), Jon Matlack (1972) and Tom Seaver (1967).
