"I was kind of a weird guy.. Don't change for anything" - When Pete Alonso recalled how he felt about being different in middle school

Throughout his youth, MLB slugger Pete Alonso was often teased for his size. Much like he is today, he was one of the biggest people whenever he entered a room.

From his classmates to some teammates, Alonso would face constant criticism for the way that he looked. Despite that, he would keep his head down, but he certainly took those insults to heart.

During the offseason, ahead of the 2020 season, Alonso spoke to a classroom of kids about his struggles growing up. During this conversation, he urged the kids to embrace what makes them different, via ESPN's Buster Olney.

"I was kind of a weird guy. But being weird is cool. Don't change for anything," said Alonso.

Instead of feeling bad for himself or trying to change to appease everybody else, Alonso used the insults as fuel. It is what drove him to be in the position that he is in now as one of the best slugging first basemen in the sport.

Pete Alonso taught his childhood friend a valuable lesson

MLB Free Agent Slugger Pete Alonso (Photo via Getty)

Growing up, Pete Alonso and Michael Pepe were nearly inseparable. The two were in the same baby playgroup, went to school together, and shared a lot of similarities.

So when people started insulting Alonso, Pepe took it to heart. He was furious that some people would try and make his best friend feel bad about the way he looked.

"It hurt me for him. It made you want to get angry , but Pete was never the one to get angry. That was something I had learned from Pete, was to control my emotions and to not get angry," said Pepe.

However, while he did not show it, the insults eventually got to Alonso. It hurt the slugger mentally more than anything.

"I internalized a lot of things. I didn't fight back. I also have a high pain tolerance, [if] I was punched or kicked or something like that before, it didn't hurt physically. But it hurt mentally" said Alonso.

Alonso would hold onto those emotions and unleash them on the baseball field. It has served as an extra source of power the slugger could tap into whenever he needs it.

This is certainly a reason why Alonso sees so much success at the plate. That and being listed at 6'3" and weighing 245 lbs with a great eye for the zone.