Tom Brennan - Can Alonso and Cespedes be the Next Mantle and Maris?

Cespedes Wikipedia

Last I checked, virtually everyone wants Yoenis Cespedes to be one of the following:

1) Banished, 

2) Banned, or 

3) Put under house arrest on his ranch.

Except me.

I like to dream.

And when it comes to baseball, I love POWER.

First, let's look back at the historical:

In 1961, the first season I can remember starting to pay attention to baseball, Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's record with 61 homers, and Mickey Mantle gave him chase until an injury-filled September left him short of Maris with 54 homers.

Roger Maris Wikipedia

I looked back at Maris and saw some things I'd never been aware of:

1) 26 of Maris' 39 HRs in 1960 were not in the Yankee Porch bandbox, but on the road - just 13 at home.

2) Maris hit an amazing 25 homers in 63 games in April - June of 1960, a pace of - you guessed it - 61 homers.  

Focusing on that, his sprint to 61 homers in 1961 should not have been so surprising.

3) Maris played just 136 games in 1960 - at that pace, over a full 154 games, he would have hit 44 homers.  Had that happened, his leap to 61 in 1961 would not have been so startling.

4) In 1960, his first game was on April 19 and he hit 2 homers and a double - I figured he was hurt - until I realized that April 19 was the Yankees' opener in 1960!!

5) In 1961, Roger had just 1 homer in his first 16 games - then hit an incredible 32 homers in his next 67 games in the first half, and 60 after his first 16 games!

6) He hit 60 homers over the last 5 months of the for-the-first-time-ever 162 game season!

7) In 1961, his homer totals were again not hometown-heavy: he hit 30 at home, and 31 on the road.  So, his two year totals were 43 at home, 57 on the road!

8) He fanned just 67 times in 161 games in 1961 - truly impressive.

8) In his last 4 seasons, spanning the ages of 29-33 and 1,389 plate appearances, Roger went deep just 35 times.

Mickey Mantle Wikipedia

Mickey Mantle?

He hit 40 in 1960, with some hometown advantage: 23 at home.  In 1961, though, he also did better on the road, with 24 at home and 30 on the road.  And, as most of us know, a leg injury late in the season derailed him enough to finish with "just" 54 homers in 153 games, 8 less than Roger.  He also got pitched around more, with 126 free passes, 9 of them intentional.

Flash forward to 2019:

Pete Alonso Wikipedia

Rookie Pete Alonso stunningly hit 53 homers.  

Yoenis Cespedes broke no records, but did break a few bones and finished with zero homers.

Looking forward to 2020, most people think Alonso will regress - and maybe he will.  But he seems like a Ralph Kiner sort of home run hitter.  As such, maybe he'll take a run at 61 taters in 2020.

And Cespedes?  Apparently feeling better, he said that if he plays 140 + games in 2020, he could hit 52 homers.  On the other hand, he might hit zero homers for the Mets if they trade him.

Cespedes may be the only one who thinks that hititng 52 is possible, but to have Alonso and Cespedes challenge the 115 homer combined total of Mantle and Maris in 1961?

That would be:

PRICELESS!