A fan's response to Pete Alonso's "LFGM" address

With each passing day in the final week of July, I have been dreading the sound that signals the arrival of a new MLB At Bat notification. With plentiful coverage of rumors, sources, and speculation, I was preparing for the Mets' starting lineup for the remainder of 2019 to be something like:

deGrom
Matz
Vargas
Lockett
Mazza

There is a certain psychology to any fan's post-trading deadline love of a team with a losing record. Specifically, around this point in the year, you begin to author narratives to build your interest, an excellent example being Jacob deGrom's journey to the Cy Young Award in 2018. There may have been more than enough disappointment to fill the ballpark to bursting, but once every five days there was excitement, hope, and what can perhaps best be described as live performance art.

This year, I readied myself to create new reasons to follow the team: Steven Matz just pitched a complete game shutout; is this a return to his excellence earlier this season? Walter Lockett and Chris Mazza have shown promise and potential; could they be the Lugo/Gsellman that these 2019 Mets may require?

Instead, the trade deadline came and went, and despite rumors and possibilities, everything remained fairly static. Thor and Wheeler remained in the rotation. Edwin Diaz (for better or for worse is yet to be determined) was still the closer. Todd Frazier continued to anchor third base. Yes, Jason Vargas was traded to the Phillies, but this was hardly a profound loss. I think Amazin' Avenue's Michael Drago framed it best with the headline "Jason Vargas was often competent, but always frustrating." Vargas was, in effect, replaced with Marcus Stroman, the former Blue Jay and 2019 All-Star pitcher. Just like that, New York upgraded their pitching staff: their fifth starter now has twice the WAR (3.1 vs. 1.5), a 26% lower ERA (2.96 vs. 4.01), and over thirty more innings under his belt this season.

In other words, the Mets replaced their number five starter with a number two starter.

This brings me to the point of this blog post: in the midst of the final flurry of trades before the deadline, Mets first baseman (and also All-Star) Pete Alonso penned a letter to his fans. Actually, it is 2019, so he didn't "pen" it, he tweeted it. Regardless, it was a multi-paragraph note addressed to Mets fans that succinctly and sincerely expressed gratitude while also calling on the fans for support.

"The boys are hot and we've been working our asses off," Alonso wrote. He closed with a call to action: "We need you guys, the fans, more than ever for these last two months. Together, let's be a part of history."

I read this as a call for contributing to the Mets' momentum. Just like any individual game, seasons can be influenced by such a force, allowing for either stunning strings of success or the crushing monotony of multiple defeats. Or, sometimes, both.

Whether you believe in momentum or would argue instead for the cold, hard facts of accumulated data, I write to you now as a fan grateful for being gifted reasons to follow my team. I'm grateful for general manager Brodie Van Wagenen's moves at the deadline (though I wouldn't have turned down some help for the bullpen...). I'm grateful for those who have carried this season (Jeff McNeil, Alonso, deGrom, Seth Lugo, and more) as well as those who are currently hot (Amed Rosario, J.D. Davis, and Todd Frazier leap to mind). And I'm grateful for the first baseman's message.

Alonso returned to unifying language regularly throughout: we, our, and together. Faith that this is not mere rhetoric and speaks to a very human desire to belong, agree, band together, and overcome the odds should not be underestimated. And so, while I will not speculate as to what the "F" in his "LFGM" acronym represents, I'll wholeheartedly and unprofessionally pound the caps lock key to conclude with, "LET'S GO METS!"