What happened to the Mets' last-out baseballs after recent celebrations?
Pete Alonso of the New York Mets celebrates after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in NLDS Game 4 at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Across 10 days in Atlanta, in Milwaukee and in New York, the Mets made the sort of memories — created the kind of images — that will live long in franchise lore.
Smiles with a mix of tears. Arms raised in triumph. That routine-turned-iconic final out that set off all the celebratory chaos, three times in quick succession in their march to the NL Championship Series, which the Mets will open Sunday against the Padres or Dodgers.
And in each instance, the baseball from the last in-game moment of the clinchers made its way back to the pitcher who threw it. Pete Alonso made sure of that.
“It was pretty special that he had — with everything going on — kept it, put it aside and was going to give it to me,” David Peterson said. “He’s definitely good about that stuff.”
On Sept. 30 against Atlanta, in the first game of the last-day doubleheader in which the Mets clinched a playoff berth, the bottom of the ninth ended with Travis d’Arnaud’s ground ball to shortstop. Francisco Lindor, who hit the game-winning home run a half-inning prior, fielded and fired to Alonso at first base.
Almost immediately, Alonso handed the ball to Edwin Diaz, the closer whose outing was symbolic of his turbulent season. He lost the lead in the eighth inning but, after the Mets rallied again, gutted out the ninth for the immediate bounceback.
Teammates typically give Diaz the ball after his saves. Those mementos, though, don’t carry the significance of this one, given what it represented for the Mets and for Diaz.
“It means a lot because . . . they gave me the last opportunity to finish it up,” Diaz said. “I have it at my house and I feel really proud to have that ball.”
Three days later, when the Mets beat the Brewers in the NL Wild Card Series, the scene was similar: grounder from Brice Turang to Lindor, who this time stepped on second and threw to first for a game-ending double play.
When another party ensued, Alonso left the ball in his glove and his glove in his locker until everything settled down.
“We had obviously just started jumping up and down and celebrating,” Peterson said. “One thing led to another in terms of the celebrations, then we had our families there. I really hadn’t thought about it at all. It was completely out of my mind.”
Because Diaz had pitched in the seventh and eighth, affording the Mets a chance to come back via Alonso’s ninth-inning home run that night, they didn’t have him in the ninth. So manager Carlos Mendoza turned to Peterson, a starting pitcher who suddenly was the best arm available out of the bullpen.
He needed just eight pitches to pick up his first save at any level of professional baseball.
As they readied to fly to Philadelphia, Alonso had a present for Peterson.
“We had gone and showered or whatever and our lockers were right next to each other,” Peterson said. “He was like, hey, here you go, this is the ball from the last out . . . Great teammate. He’s really good about that stuff in terms of taking care of guys with accomplishments and milestones and stuff like that.”
Diaz relegated Alonso and the rest of the Mets to mere observers in their most recent clincher. When they finished off the Phillies on Wednesday night, Game 4 of the NL Division Series, he was wild initially and dominant subsequently. The last pitch was a 101-mph fastball. Kyle Schwarber waved at it and missed.
This time, it was catcher Francisco Alvarez who handed the ball to Diaz when they met between the mound and the plate. That was the start of the Mets’ first playoff celebration in their home ballpark since the 2000 NLCS at Shea Stadium.
Diaz said he intended to go through proper MLB channels to have the ball specially marked for its import.
“I have it in my locker, saved it,” Diaz said. “I’ll authenticate it. I didn’t authenticate the last one, but this one I’ll authenticate and maybe give it to the organization and the team.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
