Pete Alonso Accomplishes First-Ever Feat in Debut Baltimore Orioles Season

The Baltimore Orioles closed the 2026 season without a playoff berth. They were eliminated during the final week of the regular season. Still, there were some positives from a challenging year. The biggest positive was undoubtedly first baseman Pete Alonso.

In his first year in Baltimore, Alonso won the American League RBI title. In the process, he became the first player ever to lead both the AL and the National League in RBIs.

No hitter had done it over the past 106 years since RBI became an official statistic. Alonso led the NL in 2022 with the New York Mets, driving in 131 runs. He led the AL this season with 113, accomplishing a feat that has never been seen before. Alonso ran away with the award in the final week. The next closest player was Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez who finished with 106.

The Orioles highlighted the historic accomplishment on X. While RBI totals lean heavily on lineup construction and opportunity, winning the title in both leagues makes the achievement undeniably about the player himself.

The 31-year-old also led the AL with 43 home runs, finishing closer to the hitting Triple Crown than Alvarez.

Across 161 games, Alonso hit .267 with a .363 on-base percentage and an .884 OPS. He stayed on the field all season and never landed on the injured list. His streak of 162 games played each year ended at 161, but only because Game 162 was cancelled due to weather.

The final week showed why the Orioles paid for him last winter. Alonso slugged five home runs in his final five games of the year.

Baltimore signed Alonso to a five-year, $155 million contract before the season, betting on this exact production. 

He arrived after seven years in Queens, where he set the rookie home run record with 53 in 2019 and built a reputation as one of the league’s best hitters. 

The Orioles missed the postseason and finished fourth in the AL East at 79-82, a disappointing result in what was supposed to be a bounce-back year under first-year manager Craig Albernaz. 

Alonso showed he can lead this lineup, but the Orioles will need more around him to turn his production into wins. Building a supporting cast should be the priority this offseason. For now, Alonso gave Baltimore exactly what they paid for, and that alone gives the organization something real to build around heading into 2027.