Port ST. Lucy, Fla. - New York Mets All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso escaped injury in a serious car accident in Tampa on Sunday as he and his wife traveled from their home to the team's spring training site.
Alonso, 27, said a motorist ran a red light and T-boned his Ford F-250, which flipped three times after impact. Alonso said he turned upside down in his vehicle and pulled out the windshield to escape.
He said none of the drivers involved were injured. Alonso's wife, Haley, was behind Alonso in another car and said she was a "soldier" after the collision, calling the police and corralling the couple's dogs as they left for three weeks of spring training. were moving towards the east.
"It's a really special spring training," Alonso said on Monday morning, "because yesterday was a really close-to-death experience."
Pete Alonso says he got in a "brutal" car accident yesterday. His car flipped over three times. He says he feels fortunate to be alive.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) March 14, 2022
He is well now and will be back to the field tomorrow.
Alonso hit and took the field balls on Monday - the club's first full-squad workout - but avoided all other activities as he recovered mentally. He expects to work at full speed on Tuesday.
Yet the calm rhythm of spring training was interrupted before it could even begin.
"I was driving through a green light and they just attacked me, and completely disregarded the red light," Alonso said. "When I was upside down, I didn't know I was going to get hurt.
"It was a weird, scary moment."
Pete Alonso’s wife, Haley, just posted this video on her Instagram of Pete’s car after his crash yesterday. Pete said today the car flipped three times and he had to kick out the windshield to escape. pic.twitter.com/L1h5KWvnvc
— Stephanie Apstein (@stephapstein) March 14, 2022
First-year Mets manager Buck Showalter was perhaps more annoyed than Alonso, noting that "in some people's minds, red lights and stoplights are just a suggestion."
He was informed of Alonso's injury on Sunday night and Alonso addressed the team's first plenary meeting on Monday, shortly after teammate Robinson Cano offered an apology for the second PED-related suspension that caused Cano's death. Wiped out the 2021 season.
“He deserves your attention,” Showalter said of Alonso, a vocal leader even in his 2019 rookie season.
Alonso repeatedly mentioned that every day is "a gift," and that perspective can change in a heartbeat.
"One minute I'm coming to work," he says, "the next I'm kicking the windshield."