ARLINGTON, Texas — After each win during the New York Mets’ recent hot stretch, loud music penetrated their clubhouse walls featuring a familiar voice singing a catchy chorus that has drummed up the vibes of a season.
Following players’ postgame speeches, someone turns up the speakers to the highest volume and veteran infielder Jose Iglesias’ unreleased song, titled “OMG,” plays over and over.
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When the chorus hits, everyone sings along to the part that goes, “Oh! My! God!”
“We’re singing it, we’re humming it all the time,” said 38-year-old reliever Adam Ottavino, who has played with other music-producing teammates in the past but never experienced something catch on quite like Iglesias’ song. “This one has definitely hit the most in the clubhouse.”
Whenever the Mets hit a home run, players celebrate by singing the chorus to Iglesias’ song. Recently, it’s gone beyond the clubhouse and dugout. In New York’s last homestand, “OMG” was played over the stadium speakers at Citi Field each time a player hit a home run.
Besides playing 12 years in the major leagues and once making an All-Star team, Iglesias, a 34-year-old from Cuba, creates Latin pop music under the name Candelita. He first introduced “OMG” to the Mets as his walk-up tune upon joining the club from Triple-A Syracuse on May 31. Since then, the Mets (35-38) have coincidentally won 12 of 17 games.
Here’s a short clip of Iglesias’ unreleased song — all that can be shared until July 3:
During an interview Wednesday about the song, his music career and his influence on the Mets, Iglesias said veteran slugger J.D. Martinez urged him to play “OMG” for the team shortly after his call-up. Martinez said he told Iglesias, “Bro, this is a good song. We gotta play this. We gotta ride this out. We gotta use it.” The song became a hit. The ritual followed.
“It was all this guy’s idea,” Iglesias said, nodding toward Martinez, occupying the neighboring locker.
“Wait, you guys are talking about OMG?” Martinez asked. “Greatest song ever.”
From there, Martinez wanted in on the interview, eyeing the opportunity to simultaneously needle a close friend and raise the big question.
Martinez asked, “So, Iglesias, why haven’t you come out with the song yet on iTunes? You know, so fans can listen?”
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With the pained tone of someone who had already heard the same question from the same person numerous times, Iglesias responded, “I know. I know. I know.”
The answer failed to satisfy Martinez, playing the role of a hard-charging reporter, so a back-and-forth followed.
Martinez: “But people really want to listen.”
Iglesias: “I know. It’s July 3.”
Martinez: “That’s what you’ve been saying.”
Iglesias: “I know. It’s what it takes. You have to send it to all the platforms. It’s a process.”
Walking away with a devious grin, Martinez said, “Give the people what they want, Iglesias.”
Then Iglesias filled in the context, saying, “It’s a process and it was supposed to be July 5 but we are moving faster because J.D. was on me. But it’s very exciting. I cannot wait. I have had a few singles. But this one …”
Iglesias didn’t complete his sentence. He just smiled. “OMG,” he later said, is easily one of his favorite songs.
Iglesias described “OMG” as a song about overcoming hard times and staying positive. He wrote the lyrics last offseason. Iglesias described a picturesque setting on the night the song came alive: He was sitting at a table inside his home, looking through a glass door at his 150-acre ranch 90 minutes west of Miami, where animals were roaming peacefully, stars were occupying the sky and his family was having fun. Admiring the scene, he said he thought to himself, “This is the type of energy I need, and anything negative should just be pushed away.”
The lyrics instantly hit him.
Oh my god, todo lo malo hechalo pa’ allá
(Everything that’s bad, push it to the side)
Oh my god, dame salúd y prosperidad
(Give me health and prosperity)
For the first time in eight years, Iglesias didn’t play a major-league game in 2023. He had more time to focus on his music career, he said, but he also wanted to keep playing baseball. The idea of still being able to help a team gnawed at him. He didn’t want to have any regrets about giving the game up too soon.
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In early December, the Mets signed Iglesias to a minor-league contract with an invitation to big-league spring training. Iglesias has long held a reputation for being a slick fielder, but the Mets thought he could offer something offensively, too. They wanted him to improve his exit velocities and worked with him on hitting the ball with more authority consistently. In 42 games (175 plate appearances) with Syracuse, Iglesias (47 career home runs, .702 OPS through 4,073 plate appearances in the majors) hit seven home runs with a .751 OPS. If the Mets didn’t give him a chance, multiple pro scouts from opposing clubs said they would have urged their teams to do so.
Since joining the Mets, Iglesias has received multiple starts at second base as the club’s backup infielder. He is 10-for-27 (.370 batting average) with a 0.3 fWAR. He has played well defensively — and hard, too. In the ninth inning of the Mets’ 7-6 win Tuesday, Iglesias, who entered in the eighth inning, absorbed a hard slide from Texas Rangers pinch runner Davis Wendzel at second base upon receiving a feed from shortstop Francisco Lindor and still managed to turn the double play, firing a perfect throw to first base despite flipping into the air. Left fielder Brandon Nimmo, who later compared the play to a quarterback getting hit while making a throw to a receiver, raced into the infield to hug Iglesias.
“It says a lot of what’s going on here as of late, how much they care about each other and how much they want it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Look, Iglesias has been huge. Even when he’s not playing, it’s his presence, the conversations in the dugout and always being ready to go. It’s good to have a player like that here.”
For any team — let alone one like the Mets, who experienced a dreadful month of May before turning things around over the last couple of weeks — having a guy like Iglesias is important because he plays hard, brings a positive attitude and improves vibes.
Having a catchy song helps, too.
“That’s a dream come true,” Iglesias said. “I do music because I love it and I use it as a message to inspire people who go through stuff in their lives. It’s a great way to deliver a message to the world. And I’m just very humbled how the guys here have connected with it.”
Mets star first baseman Pete Alonso recently told Iglesias, “Hey, we play it because we love it. We don’t just play it because you wrote it. No. We play it because it’s awesome.”
“That means the world to me,” Iglesias said. “Oh, my God.”
(Photo Jose Iglesias: Globe Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
Will Sammon is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New York Mets and Major League Baseball. A native of Queens, New York, Will previously covered the Milwaukee Brewers and Florida Gators football for The Athletic, starting in 2018. Before that, he covered Mississippi State for The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi’s largest newspaper. Follow Will on Twitter @WillSammon
