Meet the Long Island fans who caught Pete Alonso’s 300th home run

They went to Citi Field on Tuesday night hoping to witness history.

Instead, three 28-year-old Mets fans from Smithtown ended up catching a piece of it.

Michael Shaw, Nick Maldarella and Chris Makarius were sitting together in Section 136, Row 5, when Pete Alonso launched the 300th home run of his career into the stands.

“Off the bat, we thought it was going to be way over our heads,” Maldarella told Greater Long Island. “Thankfully it didn’t go that far and it landed in the seats directly in front of us. It all happened so fast.”

Luckily for them, those seats were empty.

“Two women had been sitting there but decided to leave the inning before,” Shaw said with a laugh.

A scrum for the milestone ball followed, with Shaw eventually emerging from the pile with it.

“It was just euphoria,” he said. “We were going nuts. We didn’t even realize the magnitude at first, but then it all set in. It was an unbelievable moment.”

Top: Nick Maldarella, Michael Shaw, Pete Alonso and Chris Makarius after Tuesday night’s game at CitiField. (courtesy)

Meeting Mr. 300

They didn’t have the ball for long before an usher arrived hoping to retrieve it.

The friends told security they were happy to give Alonso his milestone ball. They just wanted the chance to hand it to him themselves.

“We knew it was the right thing to do,” Maldarella said. “We had zero intentions of bargaining with Pete. We just wanted to meet him and get his autograph.”

Security agreed, and the three friends were taken to the clubhouse to watch the rest of the game.

“We were so nervous about meeting him,” Shaw said. “We planned our speech to him ahead of time.”

When Alonso finally walked in, Shaw knew exactly what to say.

“I called him Mr. 300 and I put the ball in his hand,” he said.

Alonso stuck around with the three friends, signing baseballs, bats and jerseys. He even brought them some beer.

“He did not rush us out,” Shaw said. “He was very gracious. He is the nicest guy. Everything I’ve ever heard about him was true.”

Alonso also invited the three to attend an Orioles game of their choice at Camden Yards with full access.

In fact, while Shaw was speaking with Greater Long Island, a member of the Orioles’ public relations staff texted him to find out when the group wanted to make the trip.

“Pete was so genuine,” Maldarella said. “It was one of the coolest moments of our lives. Everyone said we should have asked for a lot of money, but we didn’t want that.”

As it turns out, Tuesday was the only Mets game the three friends attended together this season.

“The only reason we went to the game was to see Pete make history,” Shaw said. “They’re a sorry team this year, so we haven’t been to as many games as in years past. But we just had a feeling it was going to happen, so we knew we had to go.”

“Now we have core memories for the rest of our lives,” Maldarella added.