By Morris Phillips

CLEVELAND — Imagine a village of Paul Bunyans, each man equipped with tree trunk legs, bulging biceps and granite necks.

Yes, in that environment, Mets rookie Pete Alonso might not stand out.

But in home run derby featuring mere mortal, major league sluggers doing their thing in the presence of a jacked up, sold out crowd at Progressive Field on Monday, Alonso stood out in a major way, by methodically and decisively taking control of the T Mobile Home Run Derby one blast at a time.

“You’ve got to go in with kind of a killer instinct. It doesn’t matter how many you hit, you just need to have one more than the guy you’re at,” Alonso said.

Alonso’s focused approach was a necessity in the presence of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who thrilled the Cleveland fans with 91 total home runs–34 more than Alonso hit–a feat so prodigious and taxing, that 20-year old had little left in the contest’s last minute, falling one homer short of matching Alonso in the final round.

Both the 24-year old Alonso and Guerrero earned more than they will make as rookies this season for the Mets and Blue Jays with Alonso capturing the $1 million first place prize.

Not only did Guerrero equal his salary by capturing the second place prize money of approximately $500,000, he validated the contest’s selection process that tabbed him despite the fact he’s homered just eight times in first 61 major league games.

Guerrero decimated Oakland’s Matt Chapman 29-13 in the first round before outlasting the Dodgers’ Joc Pederson in an epic second round, 40-39. His battle with Pederson required two swingoffs to break ties and separate the sluggers.

At one point in his battle with Pederson, Guerrero homered 19 times in 25 swings. The feat was reminiscent of Josh Hamilton’s epic derby at Boston’s Fenway Park in which he homered 28 times in a span of 38 pitches. In both cases, the crowds howled with appreciation.

But in the end, Guerrero didn’t have enough to outlast Alonso.

“I’m happy I didn’t face him in the early rounds because he would’ve knocked me out,” Alonso said of Guerrero. “I gotta tip my cap. He’s a hell of a hitter, and he’s gonna have a really long career.”

“I got tired, but that’s not why I lost. There are no excuses,” Guerrero conceded. “He hit more home runs than me and he won.”

While Guerrero peppered the left field stands with his home runs, Alonso with his powerful base, sprayed homers from foul line to foul line. Alonso also maintained a relaxed motion, rarely repositioning his feet between swings, and as much as could, conserving energy.

In the end, it was the exact approach he needed to get past hometown slugger Carlos Santana in the opening round, and Ronald Acuna Jr. in the semis.

“I’m happy that I was able to conserve as much energy throughout the event, and that was huge,” Alonso said.