Alonso credits Mercury exiting retrograde for shaking rookie slump

Mercury - the planet - may have had a role in New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso setting the rookie record for home runs last year.

Alonso sustained a slump after the All-Star break, during which the first baseman won the Home Run Derby, and, a couple of weeks into the rut, he learned Mercury was in retrograde.

"So, I think there was like this three-week period after the All-Star Game where I was scuffling a little bit," Alonso said during an appearance on "The Cookie Club," which is hosted by teammates J.D. Davis and Dom Smith, according to Alex Smith of SNY.

"It was the dumbest thing ever," he continued. "As a baseball player, you get superstitious just to find reasoning with something that can't be reasoned with. I saw something on Twitter, I was in a rabbit hole one night after the game, and it's like, 'Oh, Mercury is (in) retrograde, and if you are born in a certain month, then it really affects you in a negative way in your performance at your job.'"

Alonso eventually tracked down when Mercury was expected to stop being in retrograde.

"Lo and behold, that day ... I had, like, three hits," he said.

Mercury in retrograde is an astronomical phenomenon which, based on the location of Earth, makes it appear as if the first planet from the Sun is orbiting in reverse.

In 2019, it lasted from July 7 until Aug. 2. From after the All-Star break until Aug. 1, Alonso hit .125/.305/.313, collecting merely four of his record-breaking 53 homers. The following day, Alonso went 2-for-4 with one double and a walk, beginning a season-ending stretch where the Mets phenom would author a .940 OPS with 19 homers over the final 54 games.

While Alonso admits the stupidity of the superstition, his teammates got in on the fun, with Smith admitting the club yelled "Mercury! Mercury!" from the dugout.