Edgardo Alfonzo

Edgardo Antonio Alfonzo (born November 8, 1973), nicknamed Fonzie, is a Venezuelan former professional baseball infielder and coach.

Edgar signed with the California Angels in 1985 when he was 18 years old and Alfonzo was 11.

Edgar sent his baseball paychecks back home so that their father did not have to spend time away from the rest of the family driving a truck.

Alfonzo was signed by the Mets as an undrafted free agent in 1991.

That year he joined the Gulf Coast League Mets.

The following season Alfonzo moved up and split time with the short-season "A" Pittsfield Mets of the New York–Penn League and Class "A" Florida State League St. Lucie Mets in 1992.

Alfonzo returned to St. Lucie the next season and played for them in 1993.

In 1994, he was promoted to the Binghamton Mets of the Class "AA" Eastern League and led the team in home runs and RBI.

Alfonzo made his Major League debut on April 26, 1995.

At the beginning, he was a semi-regular fielder, splitting time at second base, shortstop, and third base with several others.

During his rookie season, Alfonzo spent most of his time at third base while accumulating a .310 batting average after the mid-season break.

In 1997 and 1998, he started regularly on third.

After the 1998 season, the Mets signed third baseman Robin Ventura, and Alfonzo was forced to move to second base.

While he was upset about the move at first, he became one of the best defensive second baseman in the league from 1999–2001.

Alfonzo was part of the infield considered to be among the best infields in MLB history on a cover of Sports Illustrated, along with Rey Ordóñez, Robin Ventura, and John Olerud.

Alfonzo had his first opportunity to display his clutch hitting ability to a nationwide audience in the 1999 playoffs.

After finishing in a tie with the Cincinnati Reds for the National League Wild Card, the Mets played a one-game playoff to decide who would go on to the division series.

In his first at bat of the game, Alfonzo hit a two-run home run over the center field fence, providing the Mets with all the offense they would need as Al Leiter threw a complete-game shutout.

On the very next night, the Mets played the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first game of the Division Series.

Facing the feared Randy Johnson, Alfonzo again homered in his first at bat of the game, this time launching a two-run shot to center field.

In the ninth inning of the same game, with the score deadlocked at 4–4, Alfonzo launched a grand slam down the left field line to help seal the victory for the Mets.

He had his best power numbers in 1999 (27 home runs, 108 RBI, 41 doubles) and 2000 (25, 94, 40), and at 27, he was at an age in which many hitters have their best season.

He played Major League Baseball (MLB) as an infielder from to, most notably as a member of the New York Mets, for whom he played in the 2000 World Series and was chosen as a member of the National League All-Star team.

Alfonzo's 29.7 wins above replacement (WAR) as a Met place him as the seventh most valuable player in franchise history.

Alfonzo also played for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Toronto Blue Jays and Navegantes del Magallanes from the LVBP.

In 2000, playing against the San Francisco Giants in the Division Series, Alfonzo hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning of game two, which would prove to be of immense importance as J. T. Snow launched a three-run homer in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game.

The Mets would eventually win the game 5–4 in ten innings.

In game three of the series, with the Mets trailing 2–1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Giants brought in their dominant closer Robb Nen, who had not blown a save since the All-Star break.

Alfonzo responded by lining a ball down the left-field line for a double to drive in Lenny Harris.

Benny Agbayani would later homer in the thirteenth inning to win the game for New York.

Alfonzo then batted .444 against the Cardinals in the NLCS, but batted just .143 in the World Series against the New York Yankees.

Alfonzo's knack for clutch hitting had endeared him to many Met fans, who still consider him one of the all-time Met greats.

Coming off two excellent seasons in which he batted .304 and .324, Alfonzo had every reason to expect a big year in 2001.

Before the 2002 season, the Mets signed the aging Roberto Alomar, and despite Alfonzo's tremendous offensive and defensive contributions during the previous three seasons, he was forced to move back to third base.

He remained strong defensively; however, he struggled on offense, and the Mets decided not to re-sign him.

After his major league career, he played in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol in 2008 for the Tigres de Quintana Roo then, played for one season in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) with the Yomiuri Giants in.

When his playing career ended, Alfonzo became a coach and later, the manager of the Brooklyn Cyclones.

In 2020, Alfonzo was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame.

Alfonzo was raised in Soapire, Venezuela by mother Mercedes Porfiria, a preschool teacher, and father Edgar Alfonzo Sr., a truck driver.

Alfonzo's older brother, Edgar Jr., taught him to play baseball.