Mets’ Alonso donates customized cleats to 9/11 museum

NEW YORK (AP) — Mets slugger Pete Alonso visited the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on Tuesday to donate the custom first-responder cleats and baseball bat he used in a game on Sept. 11.

Alonso presented the equipment to museum President Alice M. Greenwald. He says “it means the world” that the memorial wanted the gear for its permanent collection.

The 24-year-old rookie surprised his teammates with customized spikes to wear during a game against Arizona on the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. He spent weeks jotting down their shoe sizes, preferred brands and styles, then hired a company to paint them red, white and blue with lettering for first-responder units. New York beat the Diamondbacks 9-0 with 11 hits.

Alonso, the favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year after leading the majors with a rookie-record 53 home runs, initially asked Major League Baseball if he could have hats designed for the game. The league hasn’t permitted the Mets to wear first-responder hats since 2001, and it rejected Alonso’s proposal. Alonso did not contact MLB about the cleats, fearing more red tape might get in the way.

Alonso said Tuesday he hopes to make the 9/11 spikes a yearly thing.