Mets' Pete Alonso "thankful to be alive" after car crash in Florida
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Mets first baseman Pete Alonso said Monday he survived "a close experience to death" after a driver ran a red light and crashed into his car in Florida on Sunday.
A clearly shaken Alonso told reporters, including CBS2's Otis Livingston, his car was T-boned and flipped over three times.
He said this spring training is more important than others he has taken part in, for obvious reasons.
"Anything can happen at any given moment. Anything can get derailed at any single time," Alonso said. "So one thing was I was coming here to work, coming to spring training, and then next thing you know I'm kicking my windshield in trying to get out of a flipped-over car."
Alonso said his car flipped over 3 times. Calls his wife, who was following in another car, a real hero for springing into the action. Says he’s blessed to even be able to play this game.
— Otis Livingston (@OlivingstonTV) March 14, 2022
He credited his wife, who was following behind in another car, for springing into action.
"She kind of rushed out of the car. She was behind me, pretty much called the police immediately. She corralled the dogs and then also got people to help. She didn't know if I could get out of the car or not cause the windshield was really cracked," Alonso said.
Thankfully, the veteran first baseman is alright, without a visible scratch on his body. It could've been a lot worse. He spoke about the experience with his teammates before the first official workout.
"He put it the best way. He said 'You guys, let's just put it into perspective. You never know when your last moment might be, and so we need to enjoy this and go out there and treat each day like it's your last,'" outfielder Brandon Nimmo said.
"Everybody's healthy, everyone's good. I'm happy to see everybody. It's really nice to see everybody. And you really don't know all the people in your life. You don't know how important everybody is, so it's really cool," Alonso said.
"I'm just really thankful to be alive. I'm really thankful that I'm healthy, very thankful to be here," the 2019 Rookie of the Year said.
Alonso said he felt normal and would be ready for full activity on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old slugger led the Mets with 37 home runs and 94 RBI in 2021.