Only 2 weeks in, Tampa native dominating major leagues

TAMPA, Fla. - To be home with the Alonsos during a Mets game is akin to being in the dugout itself. The team's star is their son, 24-year-old Pete Alonso.

"There we go!" his father, also named Pete, yelled at the television as a Met reached base during a recent game.

"Back-to-back jacks!" exclaimed his mother, Michelle.

In two weeks in the big leagues, Alonso has hit six dingers and driven in 17 runs.

"It is an out-of-body experience," Alonso's father said. "Watching his life work come together, you see the smile on his face like when he was on the diamond at 3 or 4 years old. That is priceless."

At one time, he was a child sleeping with his bat in a bedroom upstairs.

"[He has] a poster with all the major league teams," Michelle continued. "In his handwriting, it says, 'This is where I want to be.' It has always been a goal of his to play Major League Baseball, no matter the team, just somewhere."

"Just somewhere" became New York City.

Alonso got his shot with the Mets after proving himself in spring training, the minor leagues, the University of Florida, and Plant High School, where he was coached by Dennis Braun.

"I don't think people really realize the grind that baseball is," said Braun. "I really think that's what makes Pete special, he is able to have so much fun with it."

His mother and father also know his serious side. Both of his grandfathers died within the last three years, one just months before he made it.

"The first game, Opening Day game when he came out, he was wearing my dad's handkerchief in his lapel," said Pete. "When Michelle and I saw it, our eyes were just welling up."

And every time Pete bats, she clutches a charm that contains his other grandfather's ashes.

"Because he would chuckle whenever Peter got a big hit.," Michelle said. "I would hear it. It is just a surreal experience. I am still sharing it with my dad."

As Peter shares his power hitting with the world, his biggest fans are always with him.

"We don't answer the phone, we don't answer the door, we don't talk to anybody, we are all in," said Michelle Alonso. "I wait in anticipation. I know at some point, he is going to do something."

Alonso's mother says there was a doctor in high school who told him he would never be able to play D-I baseball because of a broken toe.

He misdiagnosed his patient in more ways than one.