New York Mets' Pete Alonso keeps Playoff Pumpkin charm safe - ESPN

NEW YORK — The Playoff Pumpkin is alive and well.

Pete Alonso's pumpkin, first purchased in Wisconsin when the New York Mets were playing the Milwaukee Brewers in a wild-card series, currently sits in his locker at Citi Field. It is a reminder not only of Alonso's ninth-inning home run off Brewers closer Devin Williams that saved the Mets' season, but of all the good fortune that has gone the Mets' way so far in October.

Indeed, Alonso seems a little possessive about his prized gourd. It goes on the road with him, of course — so far, from Milwaukee to Philadelphia to New York to Los Angeles and now back to New York.

«What I do, I always take it with me,» Alonso said before Game 3 of the NLCS, greeting reporters in a Playoff Pumpkin hoodie and OMG ski cap. «On the road I've taken it back to the hotel because I don't want any clubbies or anybody messing with it. It's kept safe every day.»

And, no, the pumpkin does not go in his suitcase.

«Oh, no, I carry it with me. Because it could be destroyed in my luggage,» he said, with the seriousness of facing Blake Treinen with the game on the line.

The <a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/Postseason?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#Postseason

Pumpkin is BACK! :jack_o_lantern:

Pete Alonso has arrived at Citi Field, bringing only the necessities :joy: pic.twitter.com/89gUnYULON

The Playoff Pumpkin is the latest of the Mets' memes from this roller-coaster season, one which saw them near the bottom of the National League in early June and not clinch a playoff spot until the day after the regular season was supposed to end.

Indeed, many Mets fans will argue the season turned around on June 12 — when McDonald's mascot Grimace threw out the first pitch at Citi Field.

Entering that game the