Pete Alonso was taken aback, nearly speechless at first.

His new boss, the person who will sign his very large paychecks for the next five years, had just compared him to one of the greatest hitters of all time — and one of the best players to ever don an Orioles uniform.

“That’s really high praise,” Alonso said with a smile. “I appreciate that.”

David Rubenstein, who made the comparison Friday during Alonso’s introductory news conference, was hardly the first Orioles fan to think of it. In fact, some Baltimore fans over 65 years old immediately made the connection once news broke last week that the Orioles had landed the slugger in free agency.

The player Alonso is being compared to, of course, is Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, whose No. 20 is retired in Baltimore. Alonso wore No. 20 with the New York Mets but had to change to No. 25 with the Orioles.

Alonso might not be able to wear the same number, and he might not be an MVP-caliber player like Robinson was in the 1960s. But the “Polar Bear” can still make a similar impact on these Orioles as Frank did on those Orioles.

“We’re very, very happy,” Rubenstein said Friday. “The ownership group could not be more pleased with this, and we’ll do whatever else we need to do to make sure this team can win a championship. We’re very optimistic that Pete’s addition is going to be as helpful to us as Frank Robinson’s was in 1966.”

Alonso’s initial reaction was warranted. Robinson is one of the 25 greatest players in MLB history. Robinson was the only player in the sport’s history to win the MVP Award in both leagues until Shohei Ohtani added himself to that list in 2024.

A caveat is important here: Alonso is not Robinson. The former is an incredible power hitter, but the latter reached heights on a baseball field that few ever have. Frank’s bona fides needn’t be repeated in this town, but here’s a few. His 107.2 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference’s estimation, ranks 23rd in MLB history. Earlier in his career with the Cincinnati Reds, Robinson led the National League in OPS for three straight seasons — each time eclipsing 1.000. In Baltimore, he helped lead the Orioles to four World Series appearances in six years.

However, the comparison is quite apt given the circumstances surrounding how both superstars ended up in Baltimore.

Robinson spent a decade in Cincinnati, but his final three years weren’t as sparkling as his first seven. He *only* hit .289 with a .901 OPS between 1963 to 1965. Reds owner Bill DeWitt believed Robinson was declining and wouldn’t age well into his 30s. Before his age-30 season, Robinson was shockingly traded to Baltimore starting pitcher Milt Pappas and two other players. Robinson won the American League MVP Award in 1966 and led the Orioles to their first ever World Series championship. Pappas was mediocre and only spent three seasons in Cincinnati.

After making the controversial trade, DeWitt said Robinson was a “fading talent increasingly hobbled by leg injuries” and that he was “not a young 30.”

5 things we learned from Orioles slugger Pete Alonso’s introduction

No one from the Mets put their foot in their mouth quite like DeWitt did nearly 60 years ago, but the sentiment was the same. Players like Alonso — power hitters in their early 30s with little defensive value — typically decline in their 30s. And when they do, the decline can be rapid. It happened to Chris Davis shortly after the Orioles signed him to a seven-year, $161 million contract — the only deal in club history more lucrative than the $155 million the Orioles gave to Robinson.

It’s unclear whether Alonso’s preference was to remain in New York, but the Mets never gave him the chance. They didn’t want to give him more than a three-year contract, and they reportedly never gave him an official offer. The implication here is similar to the bet DeWitt made all those years ago: Alonso wasn’t worth giving a long-term deal to, in the Mets’ eyes, because of his age.

“The fact that both of them had the No. 20, both of them in their early 30s, both of them are great power hitters, and both of them were people that really can work with younger players makes us think we have a great future ahead of us,” Rubenstein said.

Robinson was credited for being the missing piece for those Orioles teams — a veteran and mighty presence to help guide and propel a young ballclub. Sound familiar? Those Orioles had never made the playoffs (then only the World Series) since moving to Baltimore in 1954. These Orioles haven’t won a playoff game since 2014, were swept out of October in 2023 and 2024 and then regressed last season by winning only 75 games.

As Rubenstein compared his new player to Robinson, it became a bit more clear why Alonso became the first splash signing approved by the private equity billionaire since he bought the club in 2024. Rubenstein grew up in Baltimore and was an Orioles fan. He was in high school — perhaps the apex of anyone’s baseball fandom — when the Orioles acquired Robinson and won the 1966 World Series.

During Rubenstein’s comparison of Alonso to Robinson, he pulled a Babe Ruth and subtly called his shot for the 2026 season, or at the very least hinted at it.

“The result was, we won a World Series that year,” he said of 1966. “We beat a team called the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were thought to be unbeatable.”

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.