The enthusiasm that first baseman Pete Alonso showed for the Orioles and the city of Baltimore at his news conference after signing his five-year, $155 million deal hasn\u2019t waned over the past month.<\/p>\n
It actually seems to be more intense.<\/p>\n
Alonso gushed again on Thursday over a roster that\u2019s still in the construction phase while president of baseball operations\/general manager Mike Elias searches for another starter and a few more pieces prior to the Orioles gathering in Sarasota for spring training.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s looking really complete,\u201d Alonso said on the \u201cOrioles Hot Stove Show\u201d on WBAL Radio. \u201cYou go from, whether that be the position player group, starting pitchers, to the bullpen, there\u2019s a lot of phenomenal pieces. And Mike\u2019s not done. It\u2019s going to be really exciting to see who else we add.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis team, this city, I\u2019m just beyond excited for it,\u201d Alonso added. \u201cWorking with Craig (Albernaz) and the rest of the coaching staff, for me, this just feels so right on so many levels, and I\u2019m just beyond excited for this year. And for me, the exciting thing is, because we have such a talented group, it\u2019s like, \u2018OK, let\u2019s see what we\u2019re made of.\u2019 To go for the division and playoff spot and then hunt down a championship in October.\u201d<\/p>\n
The offseason is far from typical for Alonso after he went through free agency and left New York. Even his preparation for spring training and the 2026 season isn\u2019t exactly the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf not, I\u2019m doubling down on the work, whether it be the lifts, the cage work, glove work, conditioning aspect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSigning here with the O\u2019s and being with this organization, obviously I work incredibly hard and I take pride in my craft, but for me, it just excites me. This offseason has just been so invigorating and it just brings so much motivation every single day because I\u2019m so excited, I\u2019m so juiced for 2026 and beyond. Not just for myself but for the city, for the team. This is going to be \u2026 again, I could go on and on, but I\u2019m just so excited for this year. I can\u2019t wait for mid-February to roll around and we get together down in Sarasota.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alonso doesn\u2019t typically set personal goals heading into a season. The team-oriented side of his baseball personality won\u2019t allow it.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, my goal is to win a championship, and that\u2019s really it,\u201d he said. \u201cBaseball is such a weird game where you have to let the game present you with opportunities. You can\u2019t necessarily force something. It\u2019s really difficult to have a perfect season in baseball. I mean, yeah, you have your hallmark stuff that you look at, but for me, whatever I can do to help win a baseball game that day, I want to do. And I want to stay on the field. I want to play every single day, fight the fight with the fellas, and do whatever I can in my role to help win every single day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s really all I want to do. I want to win ballgames and be the best possible version of myself I can every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Orioles will distribute Alonso bobbleheads to the first 15,000 fans attending the Aug. 22 game against the Rays at Camden Yards.<\/p>\n
How many times has a team held a bobblehead night for Alonso?<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, it\u2019s probably maybe two,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know. It could be like maybe three. Two or three.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m honored and hopefully I\u2019m allowed to snag a couple before they pass them out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked in jest whether the likenesses are spot-on as usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all perfect,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo blemishes, no nothing. They get everything right down to every single detail. Yeah, every single one is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alonso is a five-time All-Star and prolific home run hitter, with 264 over seven seasons, but he\u2019s got a lot to learn about one of Maryland\u2019s delicacies. \u00a0<\/p>\n
As a Tampa native, he\u2019s unfamiliar with the art of cracking blue crabs.<\/p>\n
Cal Ripken Jr. used to demonstrate the proper technique to players, whether in the clubhouse or on the team charter, and he might be needed again now that he\u2019s part of the ownership group. It sounds like a golden social media opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuge thing down here in Florida is stone crabs,\u201d Alonso said. \u201cI think it\u2019s, what, blue crabs up there? For me, I mean, I love seafood. I know you guys have not just great crabs but great oysters. On the Chesapeake there\u2019s some phenomenal seafood. I love seafood. Being from Florida, I\u2019m used to having fresh fish and shellfish. I\u2019m all for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love crab cakes. I know that\u2019s the easy way. But for me, I want to learn how to pick a crab. I don\u2019t know how, but I want to be taught properly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps the Iron Man should sit down with the Polar Bear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The enthusiasm that first baseman Pete Alonso showed for the Orioles and the city of Baltimore at his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,4,125,579,74,578],"class_list":{"0":"post-528893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-orioles","11":"tag-orioles-featured","12":"tag-pete-alonso","13":"tag-roch-kubatko"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115926734411306335","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}