A smiling Kodai Senga said it first as he strolled down the dugout steps.
A few minutes later, Mark Vientos said it, too, as he approached the tunnel to the Mets’ clubhouse.
“OMG.”
The cheery remarks were directed at Jose Iglesias, their hit-making former teammate, whose Latin pop song “OMG” served as the rally anthem for the Mets’ unexpected run to the 2024 NLCS.
“We have so many memories. It’s not even one in particular,” Iglesias said Tuesday afternoon, sitting inside the Citi Field home dugout.
“Every single day that I got to wear that uniform, every single day I got to interact with that team, the 2024 New York Mets, every moment, it was special. Every scene was perfect. We went through it as a team, we went through it as a family, and that will live for us forever.”
Iglesias, 36, was back at Citi Field to throw the ceremonial first pitch before Tuesday night’s game between the Mets and San Diego Padres.
The appearance came less than two weeks before Iglesias is scheduled to make his Broadway debut on Aug. 27 as the Narrator in “Buena Vista Social Club,” a stage musical based on the titular group of Cuban musicians.
The Cuban-born Iglesias has not retired from baseball, but he remains unsigned this season. He still has a lot of love for the Mets, with whom he batted .337 with four home runs and an .830 OPS in 85 games in 2024.
Iglesias remains synonymous with the Mets’ improbable turnaround that season.
The Mets were 23-33 when they called up Iglesias — a former All-Star shortstop who had bounced from team to team over the previous half-decade — before surging to a National League wild-card berth and winning a pair of playoff series.
Iglesias’ on-field impact was significant, but he was perhaps even more important to the team’s chemistry.
Known musically by the stage name Candelita, Iglesias released “OMG” on June 28, 2024. The song quickly emerged as a hit, debuting at No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Digital Song Sales.
Citi Field adopted the feel-good single, blaring it over the speakers whenever a Met hit a home run. Iglesias performed “OMG” live at a post-game concert at the ballpark on the day the song officially came out.
Iglesias wanted to return to the Mets “very bad” in 2025, he recalled Tuesday, but the Mets decided to go in a different direction.
“I was already looking for apartments to live [in],” Iglesias said. “It totally got me by surprise, how I cannot be involved, around.”
He continued, “As a baseball organization, they might head in a different direction. I totally respect that. I personally don’t have to agree with it, but I respect their decisions completely. But just detaching with this organization hurt me. That’s true. I really enjoyed being around these guys, and that goes way beyond nine innings. That goes way beyond the baseball season.”
Iglesias spent the 2025 season with the Padres, batting .229 with three home runs and a .592 OPS in 112 games.
He has not closed the door on continuing his MLB career, should another opportunity arise.
“I feel great. I’m in a lot better shape than a lot of people out there, I’m telling you,” Iglesias said with a laugh.
“But if it happens, I’m ready. If it don’t, I’m ready. It’s just however life comes. I always look for the positive out of it. For me, it’s making an impact. This time, I get to do it through music, through acting. God knows what happens next year. Nobody knows what happens tomorrow, so why worry?”
For now, Iglesias’ future is on Broadway, where he is set to star in “Buena Vista Social Club” for a six-week engagement.
Iglesias says he was surprised when a producer for the show called him and asked him to join the cast, but that he didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“I’m not an actor. I’m putting a lot of time and effort in those rehearsals,” Iglesias said. “I have a big responsibility on my shoulders by representing Cuban music on the biggest stage in the world, and I want to do it right.”