On August 12th, 2025, Pete Alonso hit his 253rd home run, breaking the Mets’ record. Gary Cohen was excited, and he said, “It’s outta here! Outta here! Pete Alonso stands alone — The Polar Bear on his private iceberg!” The stadium was filled with loud cheers from 39,748 Mets fans.

But not everyone was happy. Chris “Mad Dog” Russo crashed through the buzz on First Take Wednesday with a rant. He said, “I cannot believe the big deal people are making about Pete Alonso being the franchise record-holder now for home runs… after a stretch in which they’ve lost 11 of 12, and allowed the Phillies to bury them in the NL East.” He laughed at the idea of setting a record, even though Alonso hit No. 254 on his second swing of the night. He also thought Cohen’s happy tone was too much. Alonso’s record-breaking homer came in a 13-5 win against the Braves, which ended a seven-game losing streak.

This is when Don La Greca from ESPN New York comes in, setting the whole thing on fire. La Greca didn’t simply disagree with Chris Russo, be ripped apart his opinion on Don, Hahn & Rosenberg. La Greca unloaded: “I don’t need to hear a San Francisco Giant fan peeing all over it. It’s disrespectful to Gary. It’s disrespectful to the Met fans. Chris, I love you. I don’t care what you think. I don’t. Your opinion doesn’t count because you’re not part of the club that that call was for. That call was for Met fans watching the game, living and dying with the team. Not a guy that’s a San Francisco Giant fan that doesn’t get it. Of course, you don’t get it. You don’t know because you’re not a Met fan.”

La Greca’s verbal attack didn’t end there. He emphasized the main point that Russo seems to completely miss. “Dude, this is a Met moment. If you’re a Yankee fan or Chris Russo, a Giant fan, Red Sox fan, or don’t care about baseball, what do you care to have an opinion? It was for the Met fans. It’s a Met broadcast by a Met announcer who grew up a Met fan, talking about a Met record. He’s playing in the room.”

Russo’s critique was rude.“I love Gary, I hate to do that. ‘Polar Bear on an iceberg?’ I mean, now? This is not Henry Aaron against Al Downing!” Russo passionately stated on First Take that Alonso’s milestone was akin to one of baseball’s revered moments.

On a night when the Mets needed something to celebrate, Alonso didn’t just beat Darryl Strawberry’s record. He gave the Meties a moment of celebration when the team was having the 7-game skid.

And that’s exactly what La Greca pointed out next. “Yeah, there may be Mets fans that don’t care, but that’s their opinion. They could do that. They’re entitled to that opinion because they’re Met fans, and they’ve decided they don’t care. But this wasn’t for the Yankee fan, or the Giant fan, or the Red Sox fan, or the non-baseball fan. It was for the Met fan last night.” 

Indeed, it was the Mets’ night! The voices from the outside might not understand that. But the dugout was happy with what Pete Alonso did.

While critics chide, the Mets celebrate: Pete Alonso’s dugout moment

Critics on the outside wondered why Pete Alonso’s milestone got so much attention during a season that was already lost. But the attitude in the dugout was very positive. “You watch that face and how much joy he had … it was hard to describe the face of Pete there,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He was just enjoying the moment. It meant a lot to him.”

Mendoza knew how hard the squad was working, so the home run was a rare moment of relief. “For how much we’ve been through the past two months, to just live that moment, I think we’ve got to take a step back there and appreciate what we experienced.” The Mets have had trouble being consistent. And it has cost them ground in the division and made it hard for them to develop a rhythm on both sides of the ball.

Pete Alonso saw this as more than just another set of numbers. He stated, “As a kid, you don’t think that it’s in the realm of possibility to be a franchise home run leader.” “It’s a wild dream, to be honest. And it’s really special.”

Brandon Nimmo said what everyone else was thinking: “You’ve got to work hard at it to get a standing ovation here. He deserved it in that moment.” Inside the dugout, everyone was proud and didn’t care what anyone else said.