{"id":19490,"date":"2024-12-20T23:07:43","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T23:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=19490"},"modified":"2024-12-20T23:07:43","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T23:07:43","slug":"news-mets-back-to-his-roots-at-montverde-lindor-talks-soto-alonsos-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=19490","title":{"rendered":"NEWS METS: Back to his roots at Montverde, Lindor talks Soto, Alonso’s decision"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MONTVERDE, Fla. \u2013 Pitching to second- and third-grade students at a Play Ball event in suburban Orlando on Thursday, Mets superstar shortstop\u00a0Francisco Lindor\u00a0playfully asked to see 8-year-old Maddie\u2019s swing to gauge what he was up against.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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After seeing the Montverde Academy student\u2019s impressive cut with a toy bat, Lindor jokingly took two large steps backward before flashing the engaging and electric smile that once made him known as \u201cMr. Smile\u201d at this same school. Lindor\u2019s ability to entertain, connect with and coax smiles out of the children had attendees at the event in awe of his engaging and humble persona.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Preston<\/div>
Preston Mack\/MLB Photos via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cFrancisco is the kind of person that everyone hopes for when you work at a school like ours,\u201d said Montverde Academy head of school Jon Hopman, whose international college preparatory school boasts Lindor, Mariners Minor Leaguer Caleb Cali, NBA stars Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and D\u2019Angelo Russell and pro soccer players Philip Mayaka and Benji Michel as some of its famous alumni.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re a school that has had a lot of notable athletes from all over the world, but Francisco has chosen to make Montverde and Central Florida his home base. He has family who work at the school still, and this is his place. We\u2019ve gotten used to seeing him on our campus and working with students, either at the Middle School that\u2019s named after him or at the baseball field where he\u2019s always giving back to our players. He\u2019s everything you would ever hope for from a graduate of this school and we couldn\u2019t be prouder of him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Preston<\/div>
Preston Mack\/MLB Photos via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Lindor, who helped spur the Mets to a surprising postseason run to the NLCS this past season, looked like a natural while working with the 100 children at Thursday\u2019s event. The Play Ball session was hosted in collaboration with Gatorade, which secured Lindor\u2019s surprise appearance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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At times, it was difficult to tell who \u2013 Lindor or the students \u2013 was having more fun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Not so long ago, Lindor was a 12-year-old who had moved from his native Puerto Rico to Montverde Academy, and he spoke little English. He got to where he is now \u2013 arguably MLB\u2019s best all-around shortstop — because of the people who invested in him, he said. By co-hosting Tuesday\u2019s event along with Major League Baseball, Lindor was able to provide an afternoon of fun to what he calls, \u201cour next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis is home for me; I\u2019ve been blessed to have two homes \u2013 here and Puerto Rico \u2013 and I\u2019m always around here trying to help the kids,\u201d said Lindor, whose 33 home runs in 2024 were the second most among all MLB shortstops. \u201cI\u2019m always trying to help the next generation because they are the future. So many people here helped me become who I am; that\u2019s why I always want to give back and pass along the knowledge given to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lindor, 31,\u00a0is eager to pass along the knowledge he has gotten about playing for the Mets\u00a0to superstar slugger Juan Soto, who recently signed a 15-year, $765 million contract. Lindor, who is three years into a 10-year, $341 million contract extension signed with the Mets, is eager to talk hitting with Soto while also forming\u00a0one of baseball\u2019s best one-two punches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI was so excited when I heard about it and I\u2019m really excited about what the future is going to bring,\u201d Lindor said. \u201cI\u2019ve got seven more years, so I will be with him for a little while. I can\u2019t wait to play with him.\u201d<\/div>\n
\"Juan<\/div>\n
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Lindor is also hopeful that slugging first baseman Pete Alonso \u2013 his teammate from the past four years \u2013 will re-sign with the Mets to make the lineup even more potent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cPete should maximize this moment because he\u2019s worked so hard,\u201d Lindor said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to have to make this decision himself as to where he wants to go. At the end of the day, he should do what\u2019s best for him and his family \u2013 whether that\u2019s with the Mets or somebody else. He\u2019s a fantastic player and person and if we have him back on our team, it would be amazing. If not, he\u2019ll still go and do great things.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Preston<\/div>
Preston Mack\/MLB Photos via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Lindor did great things at Thursday\u2019s event by smiling all afternoon while working with the children not far from the Middle School that boasts his name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve always been a happy kid, thank God, and gotten myself into happy places and found happiness in everything that I do,\u201d Lindor said of his smile. \u201cYes, there\u2019s a lot of negativity and bad things that happen, but I just try to stay on the positive side of things and keep a smile on my face. I just want to continue to be the best version of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTVERDE, Fla. \u2013 Pitching to second- and third-grade students at a Play Ball event in suburban Orlando on Thursday, Mets superstar shortstop\u00a0Francisco Lindor\u00a0playfully asked to see 8-year-old… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":19491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nNEWS METS: Back to his roots at Montverde, Lindor talks Soto, Alonso's decision - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=19490\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NEWS METS: Back to his roots at Montverde, Lindor talks Soto, Alonso's decision - 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