Just moments after being named the NL Rookie of the Year, Mets first baseman Pete Alonso joined SNY's Baseball Night in New York to talk about his historic first season as big leaguer.

But when he was asked about his goals for 2020 and beyond, the 24-year-old unsurprisingly kept his answer team-oriented.

"I'm really happy with the season I had," Alonso said. "But the ultimate goal is to win a World Series. I want to win a World Series and help the New York mets hoist that trophy at the end of the year.

"I feel like the individual stuff is going to come along with that because I hold myself up to high expectations. I'm going to keep climbing the ladder... Next year I want to be more dynamic and I just want to help the team win."

It's not just winning, but winning in New York that appears to be important to Alonso. It certainly doesn't hurt when a player hits more homers as a rookie than anyone else in the history of the sport, but Mets fans immediately took to Alonso, and the slugger felt it every time he stepped in the batter's box.

"I love playing for the Mets," Alonso said. "I love the passion of the fans and I want to be able to reciprocate that because there's people that may only go to one ballgame a year. I want to play hard between the lines every single play.

"Let's say I have a big hit or I hit a home run. I really enjoy what I do. But to see that fans are just as happy, if not more happy, because Mets fans are diehard. And I appreciate that. I just love making people happy and experience the same type of joy I have when I'm out on the ballfield."

It wasn't just the fans that struck Alonso in his rookie year, but his teammates in the clubhouse as well. A few of them even took the time to congratulate Alonso after he was named Rookie of the Year.

Video: Pete Alonso's teammates react to him being NL ROY

"I love the group of guys that we had," Alonso said. "I wouldn't be able to have the year that I had without the high-quality personnel that we had. Just a bunch of really good dudes. All those guys had my back and I had theirs and we played hard for each other. Without that, this wouldn't have happened."

For Alonso -- whose first thoughts after being named the award winner were "holy expletive," he told MLB Network -- it doesn't seem like it's quite sunk in yet. He took a workmanlike approach to his rookie year and the results spoke for themselves.

"When I'm at the field, I just focus on day-to-day things. Who's on the mound? Who we're facing and what the opposing team's lineup is. How can we expose the other team and try to get a W. But for all the hard work to just kind of pay off for this individual award. It's kind of crazy."

Popular in the Community