Pete Alonso HBP left Ron Darling mad: ‘To this day, it still makes me angry’

While he threw his last Major League pitch 30 years ago, New York Mets announcer Ron Darling still has a pitcher’s mindset.

The Mets defeated the Washington Nationals 5-0 on Wednesday. New York hit two home runs in the game, including a solo shot from Brandon Nimmo to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Two batters later, Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch. While Alonso was clearly unhappy with being hit, the moment passed without incident. Darling, though, had a hard time letting it go. Later in the inning, he explained why.

“Pardon me, I’m sitting here angry,” Darling said. “You know, part of being an ex-ballplayer, you’re just not right for the rest of your life. I’m sitting here angry because the Mets have hit some home runs, the best hitter, or their most powerful hitter, gets hit. And to this day, it still makes me angry. It’s terrible. I have to grow up at some point.”

As Darling was talking, New York’s Jason Young flew out to centerfield for the third out of the inning. But before the game went to commercial, Gary Cohen, Darling’s longtime broadcast partner, made an observation.

Ron Darling: “You know, part of being an ex-ballplayer, you’re just not right for the rest of your life. I’m sitting here angry [because of a Pete Alonso HBP].”

Gary Cohen: “Ronnie is gonna be firing a baseball at somebody before you know it.” ⚾️🎙️pic.twitter.com/KUTG1Qd7WF

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 12, 2025

“Ronnie is gonna be firing a baseball at somebody before you know it,” Cohen said.

Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. There is, however, one more game left in the series.