Watch: Mets' Alonso tells A-Rod he wants to play until 40, be a good dad
New York Mets first baseman and reigning National League Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso joined Alex Rodriguez on Instagram Live on Sunday to discuss a variety of topics, from baseball to food and more.
A-Rod asked Alonso at one point what the 25-year-old expects from retirement, whenever that may come. Despite only entering his sophomore season in the majors, Alonso has a plan.
Pete Alonso says he wants to play baseball until he's 40. Once he hangs up the cleats?
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2020
"By that point, I'd want to be there for my kids. I just want to be a good dad" pic.twitter.com/QfbgJkjBWb
"I want to play until I'm 40, or as close to 40 as possible," Alonso said. "And I know that during the season, during the early stages of my kids' life, or me and my fiance's kids' life, it's going to be tough for them to understand why is daddy gone so much. So I just want to be there for my kids."
Alonso also talked up players he idolized when he was growing up, like Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, home run king Mark McGwire, and former Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza. He even had a Piazza jersey.
Pete Alonso had a Mike Piazza jersey as a kid 💙🧡 pic.twitter.com/XKzNplz4Vo
— SNY (@SNYtv) March 29, 2020
Alonso has lofty goals for his career. Later in the chat, he added that he wants to be the next Paul Goldschmidt. While Alonso hasn't been a top-five finalist for MVP yet like Goldschmidt's done on three occasions, he has the Rookie of the Year hardware that the St. Louis Cardinals first baseman never received.