Mets' Pete Alonso Says Mercury Coming out of Retrograde Helped Him Break Slump

For professional athletes, the stars seem to sometimes align and great things happen out of nowhere. A mediocre basketball player hitting a game-winning shot. A receiver makes a circus catch in a clutch moment. Or New York Mets superstar Pete Alonso breaks out of a slump.

If that last one sounds very specific, well, just let the first baseman tell you about the time that Mercury came out of retrograde and helped him rediscover his hitting stroke, as he did on SNY's The Cookie Club Wednesday:

"It was the dumbest thing ever. As a baseball player you get superstitious. You try reasoning with something that can't be reasoned with. I saw something on Twitter. I was in a rabbit hole one night after the game and it's like, 'Mercury is out of retrograde, and if you're born in a certain month, then it really affects you in a negative way and your performance at your job.' And I'm like, 'Oh, Mercury's in retrograde! It comes out of retrograde on this day, and I can't wait for that!'

"And that day was probably like five days away. And then, lo and behold, the day that Mercury came out of retrograde I think I had like three hits."

If Alonso is receiving celestial help at the plate, well, that just isn't fair for National League pitchers, who watched him hit .260 with 53 homers, 120 RBI and 103 runs in a rookie season for the ages.

It would appear the only chance they have is somehow channeling the energy of a Mercury in retrograde, Alonso's true kryptonite.