Chasing a dream is what baseball is all about. The years go by, the body and the work place change, but the mind remains focused on the dream. Edgardo Alfonzo turned 36 this past week. He is three days younger than Johnny
Damon, a year older than Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui.
Alfonzo still has his baseball dream. He wants to play for the Mets one more time. When his career ends, he wants it to end as a Met.
The fact that Alfonzo still has that kind of loyalty to his former team tells you everything you need to know about the man. Anyone who has spent time in the Mets clubhouse the past year knows that adding a class player and person like Edgardo Alfonzo only would help. He could toss some helpful advice David Wright’s way.
Alfonzo’s dream is to go to spring training with the Mets and let the chips fall where they may. He ssid he thinks he could be a valuable utility player and feels he has two or three years of baseball left in his body. He also could offer guidance and wisdom to a team that lacked baseball common sense.
“I’m prepared for anything,” Alfonzo said earlier this week. “Baseball is the one thing in my life that I know how to do. I don’t expect to play every day, but I feel I can help anytime. I can say many things with my mouth, but I have to prove it.”
Actions do speak louder than words. Because Alfonzo was last in the major leagues, in 2006 with the Angels and Blue Jays, he has been around the world, chasing his dream.
He played in the Independent League with the Long Island Ducks in 2007-08. He played 55 games in the Mexican League at the end of 2008. Last winter he went back home to Venezuela for winter ball and was Comeback Player of the Year.
Then Alfonzo really got adventurous. He went to Japan to play for the Yomiuri Giants this past season as the team won a championship.
“It was great, I really enjoyed it,” said the lifetime .284 hitter. “I went to Japan with the Mets in 2000 and I finally got the chance to go back and play. They really treated me as a great player. They recognized the work I did with the Mets. They were really polite in those terms.”
He feels so confident he is willing to put it all on the line for a shot at the majors. He’s going back to Venezuela for winter ball with the hopes of being signed by a big league club.
The Mets stand above all others: The team he signed with in 1991 and played eight years with and went to the World Series with in 2000, the Subway Series, which he still holds dear to his heart.
The Mets are taking their lumps, but Alfonzo wants one final chance to be with them. He knows he can help. In Japan last season he played third, second, first and DH.
If Alfonzo goes to spring training with the Mets and it doesn’t work out, so be it.
“My dream is to retire with the Mets colors,” Alfonzo said. “That’s my dream. That’s what I’m praying for, maybe it will happen, maybe not, but dreams sometimes come true, you know.”
Yes they do. Like the dream Alfonzo had of one day playing in the major leagues. To this day he said his most memorable game is his first game as a Met on April 26, 1995, against the Rockies.
“I have a lot of hope for my future, I want to show people I can play in winter ball,” Alfonzo said. “I love the Mets and I love the Mets fans. I would like that dream to come true.”
Alfonzo went to the final game at Shea Stadium in 2008 and hung out with Mike Piazza, John Franco and other Mets.
“It was fun, but I felt confused,” Alfonzo said. “In that moment I was feeling old, but I was only 35. Everybody asked what I was doing. I said, ‘I still play.’ ”
Still chasing the dream.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com