NEW YORK — Move over, Baha Men, and step aside, Timmy Trumpet. Here comes Candelita - i.e. New York Mets infielder Jose Iglesias.
The tradition of musicians appearing at Mets games and performing songs associated with the team took a unique turn on Friday night when Iglesias sang his song “OMG” following a 7-2 win over the Houston Astros in front of 32,465 fans at Citi Field.
“New York City!” Iglesias shouted as he walked toward shortstop, a position he’s manned 1,016 times in a 12-year big league career. “Let’s keep the party gooooooing!”
Iglesias was accompanied by dancers for more than a minute before teammates - many sporting “OMG” shirts - spilled on to the infield and surrounded him, raising their arms at the “Oh my God!” chorus. Sean Manaea held aloft an “OMG” sign while Harrison Bader, Starling Marte and Mark Vientos captured the performance on their cellphones.
“It’s hard to say how I feel,” Iglesias said after in the locker room, where Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor were still singing the song. “That was a big deal. Singing in front of great fans and seeing my teammates running up there is just a dream come true.”
Iglesias is a lifelong music fan who wrote “OMG” - which he described to SNY earlier this week as trying to “…maximize the possibility of enjoyment” - and used it as his walkup song upon being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on May 31.
His new teammates immediately took a liking to the 34-year-old Iglesias as well as his song, which is played following every Mets homer at Citi Field and after every win. New York is 17-6 since he joined the team and moved over .500 Friday for the first time since May 2.
“It’s amazing - I think it’s going to be huge for him,” Mets starting pitcher Jose Quintana said. “That’s pretty cool, being part of this.”
“And the way we keep playing, I’ll expect to listen to that song at least once or twice every game.”
The song was released on all streaming platforms Friday, a week ahead of schedule.
“I think it’s a special occasion,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, who wore an “OMG” shirt to his pregame news conference. “You’ve got an active player that is also releasing a song that is becoming very popular.”
Now the Mets will hope for better post-concert luck for Iglesias and the rest of his teammates.
The Baha Men performed “Who Let The Dogs Out?” - the anthem for the NL champion Mets - prior to Game 4 of the 2000 World Series, but Derek Jeter homered on Bobby Jones’ first pitch just minutes later and the Yankees won the next two games to clinch their third straight title.
On Aug. 31, 2022, the saxophonist Timmy Trumpet played “Narco,” the entrance song for closer Edwin Díaz, as Díaz jogged in for a save opportunity against the Los Angeles Dodgers. While Díaz tossed a perfect ninth inning to close out a 2-1 win, the Mets squandered a three-game NL East lead in September, lost the division title to the Atlanta Braves and were eliminated in a wild-card series.
Iglesias, who is hitting .389 in 36 at-bats, said he would not have performed the song Friday if the Mets lost.
“How many emotions were there? A lot,” Iglesias said. “The way my teammates reacted and the fans and everything that’s going on - it’s just a perfect storm and I’m just glad to be in it.”
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