PTI - History in Queens as Pete Alonso Belts Home Run No. 300 at Citi Field!

Episode Date: September 16, 2026

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Okay, when I sell my business, I want the best tax and investment advice. I want to help my kids, and I want to give back to the community. Ooh, then it's the vacation of a lifetime. I wonder if my head of office has a forever setting. An IG Private Wealth Advisor creates the clarity you need with plans that harmonize your business, your family, and your dreams. Get financial advice that puts you at the center. Find your advisor at IG Private Wealth.com.

The interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. It's National Tattoo Story Day, Tony. You have good tattoo stories? I'm Tony Kornheiser. I'm not going into detail, but trust me. If you ever put lebitard across your chest, you do it with a small font, because I got the D like it's in my armpit.

It doesn't work. If I put lebitard on my chest, I want you to call the people that come with the net. Okay, take you away. How about this real quickly with Neville? They got his birthday wrong on his tattoo. He's like, he's 60-plus years old. And I discovered it.

I'm like, dude, that's not your birthday. Ultimately, that's his fault. It is. It's his fault. His fault. Welcome to PTI boys and girls in today's episode. Peter Lonzo gets a curtain call from Mets fans. The Chargers may face a must-win already,

and Buster only joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with the Milwaukee Brewers, clinching the NL Central title last night with a win over the pirates and the Cubs lost to the Braves. The Brewers have the best record in baseball. They are 94 and 57. Right now, they are the number one seed for the playoffs. Wilbon, this is your division.

Yeah. Did the Brewers deserve more consideration as the World Series favorite? I know more or less. I know the brewers don't care about consideration. Pat Murphy, not a consideration guy. The Brewers are the best team in baseball. They've been that. I ran my mouth about five weeks ago when the Cubs were three games behind the

Brewers and on a church. and said the Cubs are going to catch the Brewers. The Cubs can't catch the Brewers. The Cubs can't even hold a 3-0 lead in any game. Nobody can catch the Brewers. The Brewers are the best team in a tough division. They are better than the Dodgers. They're better than the Braves.

I know the Dodgers have deeper starting pitching, but you know who I'm going to take is my ace versus ace. As great as the Dodgers current ace is. Scooboo is great. The Miss is a full. run better. I'm going to go with that, Tony, and the Brewers just see, look, they've had dress rehearsals.

They've got this. You know, Pat Murphy, who nobody mentions to be a great manager, he replaced Craig Counsel, who's a pretty damn good manager. Doesn't it seem like both of those teams are the right thing? But Pat Murphy, wouldn't you give him a nod for being great in what he does? Look, I'm saying this directly to you. I don't want to get into a diatribe about I-95. I don't want to get into a thing about,

you know, the East Coast teams and the West Coast teams and the prejudices towards them and the prejudice against the flyover. Do you know the last time the Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series? 82. I don't care. They didn't win the World Series. Oh, they were in it. They didn't win it. What did they lose to an 82? It doesn't matter. They didn't win it. They were Harvey's wallbangers when they got in it. They didn't win it. That's more than 40 years ago. You were not all right that. Okay. So in the interim, teams like the Dodgers and the Yankees

and the Phillies and the Braves have won World Series. the Cubs have won a World Series. And I think that that's important to point out. The Brewers are very, very good. I think they have the second best batting average in Major League Baseball. And the Mizz is the most exciting pitcher in the National League. I'm going to give you that.

What they lack is a home run presence. They are last in the majors in home runs. So they don't have that slugger you identify with like your boy Schwarber, like Aaron Judge, or Shohei or Coahu. Yellows can get hot in October. Okay, but just listen for a second, because it goes deeper than this.

They've been in this a lot. They've got the last four division crowns. They've been in the playoffs seven of the last eight years. This will be eight out of nine. You know their record in the playoffs in those seven? It's 11 and 20. They've only won two series. So if I'm not being prejudiced against them,

I'm saying past performance indicates to me why they're not the favorites. Past performance at 108 years, the Cubs wouldn't win in 16. They won. The Brewers are the best team And the only team I can see them losing to Actually is the race

The Brewers are the best team They know it They've been down this road before The Dodgers are not every The Dodgers and the Rams are not all they've been Jacked up to be At this point The Dodgers have two rings in a row

They're two rings in a row You give me past history Yeah, that's what I'm doing I'll tell you what We'll bet some golf somewhere Okay I'll take the Brewers to beat the Dodgers in a seven-game series.

Okay. Right now. Yeah, I'll take that back. Okay, all right. We're on. We got tape. We got tape. Let's move from the National League elite to its dregs.

The Mets watched their former star, Pete Alonto, crushed the 300th home run of his career last night against them on his former home field in Queens. Then Mets fans gave the Orioles slugger a curtain call before chanting fire Stearns, as in David Stearns, the Mets president, who allowed Alonzo to walk in free agency, Tony. What does all this say about Alonzo, the milestone, and the state of your, not nationals, your metropolitan?

Of course, but we're talking about past performance, and you don't want to deal with the past because you didn't want to deal with it in the first story, so I'm going to lay off the Mets at the moment. What it says, number one, is that Mets fans love Pete Alonzo. And they always have it. He was there for seven years. He hit 264 home runs for the Mets.

All-time record, right? At the end of this year, at the end of his eighth year, there's going to be only two people in Major League history with more home runs through eight years. Ralph Kiner and Pujols. Those are the only ones. He's got a fabulous nickname, Polar Bear, and he didn't want to leave.

If the Mets had given him the same money that the Orioles had given him, I don't think he would have left at that point. And regardless, you know, and 300, by the way, is a milestone. number. It's nice to applaud. And regardless of what Meneas says, the pitcher on the Mets, saying that he thought it was crazy

that they applauded, you know, they applauded the guy... But he should feel that way. But they applauded him even though he's no longer a met because of what he did for a long time. And because of this, the Mets fans hate the team that they've got. They don't want to root for the team that they've got.

They've been promised that that team has done everything possible to be in serious contention. The Mets gave a ton of money to people not named Alonzo, and where are they? They are at 69 and 82, and in last place in the division. They're behind the NACS. Back from Franklin and Dundor, would you?

You wouldn't take that back, that signing, would you? Is soda working out, or all these things working out? You have an owner who made promises and spent money and got no results. By the way, you know, if I didn't know any better, and now we're talking about Alonzo, Alonzo, if he would say to me, who was the Mets' all-time home run king? I might have said Cleon Jones. I would have said Carol Strawberg. I don't know that that's true or Ed Cranepool.

But no, but it's him, but it's Alonzo. And he walked. Piazza, too. He didn't want to walk. But Piazza was hit the lot of the Dodgers. But the point is, Tony, I understand why those Mets players feel that way. If they didn't feel that way, what would you have any respect for him? They loved Alonzo when he was a player.

They could have walked away from the question. They could have walked away from the question. I mean, I think they did. I think the Mets fans showed appreciation for a player that they had who didn't have to walk. He didn't have to walk. Let's move to the NFL and tempt the overreaction gods. The L.A. charges your team. Had a miserable showing against Arizona, another one of your teams.

On Sunday, losing 26 to 14. Yes, it's only one game out of 17. But here is their upcoming schedule. At home on Sunday against the Raiders, okay? Then at Buffalo, at Seattle, home Denver, at Kansas City. Then they get a buy out of the buy Rams. Wilburne, does it feel like the Chargers are already in a must-win situation against the Raiders? This is usually red meat for me.

Week two must-win. Last year, the two teams that went to the Super Bowl, each lost their first games at home. At home. Just like the Chargers. Okay. So normally I want to shout this down as loudly as possible. but I can't. Because when you look at that schedule

is not just the one game and the Chargers did look bad. They looked very bad. It wasn't like, okay, this is a great epic game and the Chargers just came up short. They just looked like some team not coached by that dude. Yeah.

But not coached by Jim Harbaugh. So, Tony, I think actually it's pretty close to a must game for them because you don't want to go into those next games, Buffalo and Seattle being over. Yeah. I love this story. It's totally fabricated. It's an absolute made-up story. And we are talking about the doomsday scenario for the Chargers. As you point out, both Super Bowl teams lost their openers at home. Not only that, teams that open 0-N-2,

20% of them actually do make the players. 20% of them make the players. So it's way too soon. I mean, perhaps the Chargers will finish 16 and 1. But we are talking about their doom right now. And this is the way football works. Because it's once a week, it gives you too many days to think about the upcoming game. You know, I mean, there's 17 games, and we have no idea what's going to go on. But like you, I look at that schedule, I think maybe they have to win this one. Now, they should win this one. They're at home, and the Raiders, we were told throughout whatever passes is the preseason,

weren't worth a damn as they tried to figure out their quarterback. They were at home against the Cardinals as well. But I agree with you. They should win this game. The Raiders were 3 and 14 last year. The Chargers made the playoffs. It is a home game. My feeling is to look into the camera and say,

you know, if you don't win this one, shut up and get out of here. Because the next five after that are killing. You know, usually I get to some time in late October and I pronounce the Chargers are napping. Right. If they start the season on a nap, although I will point this out,

the Super Bowl the Chargers got to under Bobby Ross, I think they started one in five. I think. They went to San Diego. If Piss performance, which you didn't like in the first story, you know, he didn't like it in the first story. Now you like it in this story. Let's take a break.

Coming up, where do things now stand in the battle between the Guardians and the White Sox? We're going to ask Buster only. We'll also ask him whether Yordaun Alvarez is losing his grip on the AL MVP. So a week ago, everybody had the Rams as a juggernaut. And last week they said, well, can Patrick Gahomes be healthy? And, you know, how will Josh Allen win against that defense? So we're wrong early, and we're wrong often.

Well, it's every week. There's a lot of wrong. Because it's six days to concentrate on the next one. But they should win. Okay, when I sell my business, I want the best tax and investment advice. I want to help my kids, and I want to give back to the community. Ooh, then it's the vacation of a lifetime. I wonder if my head of office has a forever set.

An IG Private Wealth Advisor creates the clarity you need with plans that harmonize your business, your family, and your dreams. Get financial advice that puts you at the center. Find your advisor at IGPrivatewealth.com. New from Nespresso. Blend wellness into your coffee routine with a coffee plus range infused with functional benefits. Choose the coffee you love with added B vitamins, like coffee plus B12 to help support immune function. and coffee plus B6 to keep your day moving. Or go with the flow and choose ginseng delight.

Our new double espresso with ginseng extract. Whatever lies ahead, don't change your morning. Let your morning change you. Discover coffee plus on espresso.com. We've got some baseball questions for our great friend ESPN senior baseball writer, PTIFarm Bureau Chief Buster Only, who I told already the potatoes have come out great. I'm happy. You're at City Field for the Orioles and the Mets.

Last night, the crowd chanted Fire Stearns after Pete Alonso's Homer. Will the owner Steve Cohn act on this? Tony, the answer is no. Look, Steve Cohen, according to Friends, doesn't want to be viewed as an owner who constantly turns over his front office. And he's changed general manager of number of times already. He doesn't want to be his generation's George Steinbrenner. So David Stearns will continue as the head of baseball operations.

There is going to be a change in manager, though, because Andy Green, their interim manager, when he went down to take that job, the understanding was he was going to go back to the front office. Those plans have not changed, so the Mets will be in the market, maybe for an experienced manager like our friend David Ross, maybe someone like Carlos Beltron, Albert Pujols.

You would imagine that Mets won an experienced manager for this situation. Buster, I'll stop short of calling it breaking news, but the Guardians did beat the White Sox this afternoon and take over first place in the A.L. Central. Besides ruining one of the great potential stories of awful to first in one season, what does this result mean to you? Michael, it's like the embodiment of the American League this year, right? On August 16th, Cleveland was five games under 500.

On September 3rd, they were at 500, and yet here they are at the top of the American League Central. And as of today, they're the number two seed in the American League. In other words, the playoffs start today. The Tampa Bay race in Cleveland would get the first round buys. How crazy is that? And you've got to give credit to the Guardians. It feels like year after year after year, you know this about Cleveland.

They'll get better during the course of the season. Those 18 wins in the last 28 games. All right, the American League is boring most of us right now. So we're going to jump. And got to ask you about the Brewers, Buster. I mean, the Brewers, we've seen this from them. They've won a lot of division titles. They've been in the playoffs frequently.

Don't get it done in the postseason. Why does it feel like to me that the Brewers are the best team in baseball and this time is different? And Michael, just to acknowledge, they're practicing the National Anthem in the background here a couple hours before the game. Look, I think the reason why it's different for the Brewers this year is they just have more pitching death.

Pat Murphy, their manager, told me that during the playoffs last year against the Dodgers, they basically ran out of pitching. Well, this year, they're loaded. They've got the Ms. Jacob Mizorowski, likely to be the Siong Award winner at the front of their rotation. I think he's set up and ready to go in the postseason. Then you have Logan Henderson. Of course, Dustin May, who they acquired at the trade deadline, six scoreless innings than his last outing. They just have much more in the rotation of their bullpen than they did as the playoffs started last year.

This might be breaking news. Aaron Judge leaving today's game in the sixth with Lodagh, lower right leg tightness. Buster, do we know any more about that and how severe it may be? I feel like that in taking out of the game today is precautionary. They don't think this is going to be a major injury and that Aaron Judge will be able to be back in the lineup soon to try to continue to get his timing back.

Look, in his first 23 at bat since coming off the injured list. He's got 13 strikeouts. It's clear that that timing is off. I know from talking with the Yankees people the last couple days, They feel like there's enough time for him before the start of the playoffs to get that timing back. Let's face it, even if he doesn't have it back, the Yankees lineup is better with Judge in the middle of it because of the threat he represents. Totally wonderful to have the anthem being played as you're talking. Just totally wonderful.

And I should tell you, I don't know if you saw this. I don't know if you saw this, but Mr. Met walked behind you before. It just cannot be any better than this. We will get you out on this. Jordan Alvarez is batting just 222 in September. Could he lose his grip on the ALMVP? Yeah, I think he could because he's lost a grip on the triple crown. As you and I speak, Junior Caminero has taken over the lead for home runs.

Pete Alonso has taken over the lead for RBI. Houston's been a 500 team. I think it's wide open here going down the stretch. Aaron Boone has injected Camp Slittler into this conversation. Bobby Wood Jr. leads all-American league players in Wins above a replacement. I think it's going to come down to Alvarez versus Caminero, the two sluggers going for that award. But it's PCA in the National League despite the Cubs slide, isn't it, Buster?

It's a lock at this point. Yes, Pete Cromarrestong is going to win the National League MVP. All I care about is if Camerro wins, will it take him more than two minutes on his next home run to go around the basis? Thank you, Buster, as always. Thank you. That's hard duty for Buster. Like with all that music going on and everything going on.

Let's take one last break still to come. Could it tell in Dante Moore's footwork have contributed to Oklahoma State's upset of Oregon? And what would have been the reaction, if Ben Johnson had gone for two on that bear's last touchdown? Piling on would be my reaction. How about you? I mean, you make yourself a target. Don't want any part of that.

No, that's what I'm saying. I mean, if you go for 60. No. No, you can't do that. Against a conference team. Look at Buster out there. I know what that's like. Battling through.

To go through the rehearsal of the anthem. That's great. A new podcast series from ABC Audio in 2020 goes inside a case that has captivated the nation. To many people, Luigi Mangione is a modern-day Robin Hood. People were cheering. The demise of this person they'd never met, who was a father of two and a husband, and had a life and was just doing a job. From the Manhunt, ending in a McDonald's,

and Altoona, Pennsylvania, to what authorities are saying about a possible motive. I'm ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmeyer. Listen to Burdena Proof, Luigi Mangione, wherever you get your podcasts. Happy time, people.

Happy 27th birthday, Brady Kachuk. Brady is the younger brother of Matthew Kachuk who's been playing for the Florida Panthers for the last four seasons and won two Stanley Cups there. Brady has been on the Ottawa Senators the last eight seasons he was their captain. Both Brady and Matthew played together on the 2006 U.S.

men's Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal in Milano Cortina. Now, after requesting a trade, Brady will join Matthew on the Panthers. Brady has played in four All-Star Games. He has 213 career goals, 250 career assists. Matthew has played in two All-Star games,

253 career goals, and 417 career assists. A lot of firepower. Their Hall of Fame day at Keith Kichuk played in five All-Star games. You think it'll still matter, though, that Brad Marchand, the mad face liquor, is going to miss the start of the season. He's going to be out a little bit of time.

Well, I don't think it will matter by the end of the season when they're going to be in the playoffs. They're going to be in the playoffs. I mean, we think we can conclude that. That's nice when you see brothers playing together. It is. It's nice when you do that.

Happy anniversary, Dave Winfield, on this day, 33 years ago, while with the twins, Winfield got the 3,000th hit of his career of fellow Hall of Famer, to be Hall of Famer. Eckersley, Winfield, who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, became the 19th player to get 3,000 hits, and the first to do it in his hometown. The 6-6-6-Winfield, who played college basketball

in Minnesota, became one of the few players drafted in baseball, basketball, and football. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres, the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA, the Utah stars of the ABA, and the Minnesota Vikings. Draft picks like these across multiple sports were relatively common then, when the NBA draft won 20 rounds, the NFL draft won 17 rounds. Football teams often drafted track stars like Bob Hayes and Ronaldo Nehemiah. Realize John L. Wageg, you drafted by two baseball teams? The Royals and the Yankees, mid-1980s. I go into a baseball club, I'll say to Dave Winfield. I'm Mike Wilbar from the Washington Post. I'm young. I'm scared. He says, I got to talk to you. Where's Cornheiser? Is that right? Way to make me feel good. That's nice. What a smart,

funny, engaging guy. I know you loved him. A great athlete. A simply great athlete. Absolutely. Happy Traos the last night's game for the A's. Junior Caminero hit his second walk-off home run in five days to win the game for the raise in the bottom of the ninth. Caminero then took more than 40 seconds to round the bases, the slowest recorded by statcast. Outside the major leagues, Caminero is taken longer.

He took 56 seconds to get around the bases on the home run that made him famous in game seven of the Dominican World Series back in 2025. Part of me thinks this is the coolest thing ever. Part of me wants to see Bob Gibson come out of the dugout and go right at him 85 miles an hour. Right? But the old school part of me wants that. I am up two minds about that, too,

because sometimes you see the bat flips and they're fabulous. What are you doing? They're just fabulous. But if you start taking two and three minutes to go around the business. Let's get to errors. Wilbon, you said Pat Murphy never gets mentioned. He doesn't. But he's the reigning two-time National League Manager of the East.

year. And you wondered if the Bobby Ross Chargers started one in five the year they went to the Super Bowl, and it turns out they started six and oh. Oops. I was two years late. Two years earlier, they started one and four, the first team to start like that and win a division. Yeah. So I'm just early. Okay. But you're going on past performance, which early in the show, you said you can't do. Let's go to the big finish. Let's do it. Your boy, Dave Johnson suggested he was thinking about going for two after the bear's last touchdown. Would you have been okay with that? I don't know that he suggested it. No, I wouldn't have been okay with it, and he wouldn't have been okay with it. Oklahoma State says it found a run-pass tell in Dante Moore's footwork during its win over Oregon.

Significant? I think it might be because Oklahoma State was one in 11 last year and lost to Oregon 69 to 3, and they ended up beat him. If you see it and everybody in the team sees it... Well, did Boise see it the week before when they got close? Don't know. Ellie Delacruise's average against lefties has gone from 236 last season to three. 46 this season, your thoughts. In the old newspaper days, we would have called that a misprint. That's an amazing, some people deserve some credit for that. Hitting coaches.

Hitting coaches. And Mr. Dela Cruz. Falcons coach, Kevin Stefansky, says he's not sure who will quarterback his team against the Pantle's Sunday. Your reaction. Brewer may not be ready. Pinnix is not ready. Cooke or Rush, they don't know.

Last one, quickly. Seahawks ruled out Sam Dona for week two. Drew Lock will start. Big deal. It is a big deal, Tony. But Seattle's going to Arizona. Watch out for Cardinals. We're out of time.

Try to do better the next time. I'm Cornhuser. I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.