Karma's a you-know-what. On Monday night, Pete Alonso learned his lesson from Atlanta Braves fans.
Pete Alonso is undeniably gifted at the plate. He has 26 home runs halfway through the season, he's on the short list of two-time Home Run Derby winners, and he will always have that one time he told Bryce Elder of the Atlanta Braves to "throw it again" after smacking one over the fence.
There's no harm in a little friendly taunting after a home run. If you send one to the moon, you get bragging rights.
Here's the thing about "bragging rights," however. They are finite. They expire. And right now, Alonso is getting a strong, cold lesson in karma from Atlanta fans who very much remember that time he told Bryce Elder to throw it again.
Atlanta Braves fans school Pete Alonso after Home Run Derby defeat
Alonso hit 22 homers in the first round of Monday night's derby. A respectable number by all means, but nowhere near enough to topple hometown favorite Julio Rodriguez, who beat Alonso's previous record for the most home runs in a single round with a gobsmacking 41 dingers.
The Mets star was not feeling great about life in the moment.
Well, the Atlanta Braves fandom is here to really make life hell for the two-time All-Star.
If you thought some of the pitches to Alonso looked a wee bit outside, you are not alone. That's why Braves fans think someone needs to… throw it again.
This is the cycle of life in sports. You make a great play, you celebrate, your fans celebrate. Then the wheel of time spins, seasons change, records change, and all of a sudden life's not so great. Then, when you're at your lowest, the opposing fanbase is preloaded with joke material.
The MLB's rather stringent unwritten rules prevented celebrations like Alonso's from becoming prevalent for years, but we have arrived in a new era of baseball. Players are having some fun, and there are cameras and cellphones around to catch it all. Any mild disrespect gets documented, filed away, and saved for the perfect moment of retribution.
Alonso will probably be more careful next time he smacks one over the fence in Atlanta. I'm sure it felt good in the moment, but is hearing "throw it again" every time he does something remotely unimpressive for the next decade really worth it? Uh, no. Probably not.
