It’s been a wild first half of the 2024 MLB season for the New York Mets. Between the dismal start, Jorge López’s glove-throwing incident and postgame comments and the recent good luck charm known as Grimace, it’s been eventful.
The latest phenomenon in Mets world is infielder José Iglesias, who went by his alias, Candelita, during a postgame concert after the team’s 7-2 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night.
A crowd of 32,465 fans at Citi Field first enjoyed the Mets’ 12th win in their last 14 games, then got to see the journeyman infielder, who signed a minor league contract with the team in December, perform his hit “OMG” while still in uniform.
It wasn’t just the Mets fans in attendance enjoying the show. Iglesias’ teammates — plus Mr. and Mrs. Met — stood along the first base side of the field to cheer him on before joining him in the infield.
“That was a special moment,” said Iglesias, who noted he would not have performed had the Mets lost. “That [shows] how tight we are. … We are riding in it and enjoying it. One day at a time. That’s what we have to do right now.
“This group has become a family. It’s great. We have great human beings here. We are clicking, we care about each other and we are playing good baseball.”
Iglesias has used “OMG” as his walkup song since joining the Mets from Triple-A Syracuse on May 31. The team is 17-6 since his call up and are now only a game out of the last NL wild card spot.
“OMG” was set to be released on streaming platforms in July but was moved up a week ahead of schedule.
“It’s hard to express what I feel right now,” Iglesias said. “There is a lot of emotions. It was a great game. The guys get the job done one more time. It’s a dream come true. I’m very humble about it. … I’m floating right now.”
Source Agencies
