Artie and the Mets
I was blessed to have experienced the 69 Mets when I was 22 years old. They were an expansion team in 1962 with 120 losses, the most ever in the modern era until the 2024 Chicago White Sox eclipsed them with 121 losses this season. The Mets were 100-1 to win the World Series. The 69 Orioles were practically flawless and featured an allstar at almost every position. Led by a young Tom Seaver and manager Gil Hodges, they improbably defeated those highly favored Baltimore Orioles in five games (after losing Game 1 as expected). Thus, the Amazin’ Mets were born.
You can take a trip down memory lane here.
Skip ahead to 1986. I was living in Staten Island. With a bevy of stars on the team — Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and phenoms Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry — the Mets won more games than any other team in National League history besides the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates. Unlike 1969, when no one thought they could win, the 86 the Mets were a powerhouse, a 108-win team that topped their rivals in the National League East by 21 1/2 games. They were obnoxiously confident and were hated by most everyone outside of NYC. With their prodigious drinking and a penchant for fighting both on and off the diamond, the ’86 Mets dominated not just the back pages of New York’s tabloids but the front pages as well.
I have many wonderful memories of attending Mets games in 1986 with my two daughters, Jennifer and Alissa. Many was the night when we moved down to the box seats in the late innings of an evening game and watched Keith or Darryl hit a curving, home run deep into the dark night down the right field line to win the game.
After losing the first two games, the Mets rallied to defeat the Red Sox in seven games, claiming their second World Series title and first since 1969. The series is best remembered for its Game 6 when the Mets rallied from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the 10th inning. There was nobody on base and two out. The Red Sox, who held a 3–2 series lead, were twice one strike away from securing the championship, but failed to close out the inning as the Mets won on a now infamous error by the usually dependable Boston first baseman Bill Buckner. The Mets Mookie Wilson squirted a soft grounder to first that somehow made it through the first baseman’s legs and dribbled into left field as the Mets Ray Night scored the winning run. After trailing by three runs in game seven, the Mets came back to claim another World Series title. The Game 6 collapse entered baseball lore as part of the Curse of the Bambino superstition used to explain the Red Sox’s championship drought between 1918 and 2004.
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Jerome McCroy, who came up with the OMG sign, with Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor. (Photo courtesy of Jerome McCroy) |
The Mets’ OMG sign, explained: The unlikely origin story of team’s 2024 rallying cry
by Bryan Kalbrosky
From the US Today Sports FORtheWIN website here
If you are watching the New York Mets, you are likely going to see a sign in their locker room that reads “OMG” and you may not know why. First and foremost: The Mets are a team that uniquely experiences significant humor, whimsy, and joy. Nowhere is that more apparent than when they use a sign that reads “OMG” as part of a celebration. But what does it all mean and where it come from?
The story is quirky and silly and surprising and also makes all of the sense in the word for a team like the Mets.
Walk with us and let’s take you back earlier this season in New York. It was May 31 and the Mets were 24-33 (.438) and at a very low point in the MLB season for the organization. It looked like a rebuilding year. Jose Iglesias, a 34-year-old infielder who signed a minor league deal with the Mets, was called up to join the majors and made his debut with the team. While it did not seem like a big deal at the time, it was a turning point for the franchise. They started winning and heading from spring into summer, the vibes were getting better for the team. Iglesias was playing well but as it turned out, he was also working behind the scenes on his side career as a musician.
After the Mets 7-2 win over the Houston Astros, Jose Iglesias preformed his new song OMG for the Citi Field crowd
Now it was June 28 and the Mets were suddenly one of the hottest teams in baseball. Iglesias, who was still playing well, was also getting closer to releasing a song under his moniker Candelita. As it turned out, Iglesias also moonlights as a musician star because of course the Mets had a minor league who is also a Latin Pop star. The infielder performed his latest single “OMG” at Citi Field as all of his teammates joined him for the amazing moment. It was a sight to behold. Meanwhile, the song has over 4 million YouTube views and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts for Latin Digital Song Sales. Iglesias also performed the song at MLB All-Star Weekend during the Home Run Derby in Texas.
The “OMG” sign was created by an artist named Jerome McCroy, who goes by Jaymaccustoms. It was based on a shirt that Alex Cohen, wife of Mets owner Steve Cohen, posted on her Instagram. McCroy gave the sign to Alex, who passed it along to someone who could put it in the locker room. The Mets use it to celebrate in the dugout whenever they hit a home run. The celebration is often led by Mets pitcher Luis Severino, who has become one of the more reliable arms in the rotation for New York.
From Oh and Five to OMG!
After losing their first five games this season — that the 0-5 — the Mets were being no hit for seven innings. Then, as noted above, they began playing much better. On Monday past, after the baseball regular season was officially over, they played a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves. In the first game, they did not score for seven innings, went ahead in the eighth, fell behind in the bottom of that inning, and then went ahead again in the top of the ninth on a homer run by this year’s Mets MVP, Francisco Lindor. That insane win got them into the post season to face the favored Milwaukee Brewers. They flew on Monday night to Milwaukee, beat the Brewers in game 1 on Tuesday, and lost on Wednesday. The winner of game 3 on Thursday night would advance in the playoffs. The loser would go home. The Mets did not score for 8 innings getting only two hits, both by Lindor.
Then, as above, came the OMG moment. Pete Alonso, did not have his best year. But his HR put the Mets ahead for good as David Peterson, normally a staring pitcher, put the Brewers down in the bottom of the ninth. The Mets play the (much hated) Phillies on Saturday afternoon.
I can’t close this post without mentioning that my younger daughter Alissa and her younger son, Idris, live and die with the Mets. Jennifer loves them too. I asked Alissa how she would feel if the Mets got swept by the Phillies. She said that it would not matter. Her team had had an unexpectedly great season, one that nobody saw coming. Neither of use would be surprised, however, if the Mets wind up winning their third-ever World Series.
If you have not had enough yet, check out Mike Lupica’s great online column here.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Indeed, Artie. I experienced the 1986 series from the other side. Bill Buckner could barely walk, let alone field. The Red Sox had a good, healthy first baseman but refused to put him in with a lead. That loss was on the manager. I would like to see the Phillies win so that Dave Dombrowski gets his third World Series win with his third team. The Red Sox fired him right after he won his second. But failing that, I will root for the Mets. By the way, what happened to the other two games in 1962? The Mets went 40-120, but the season was 162 games.
Buckner was a great player. (He was the 21st player in major league history to play in four decades. He ended his career with 2,715 hits and 498 doubles, having batted over .300 seven times with three seasons of 100 runs batted in (RBI). Buckner led his league in assists four times, with his 1985 mark remaining the American League (AL) record. He retired with the fourth-most assists by a first baseman (1,351) in major league history despite not playing the position regularly until he was 27 years old.). Wikipedia.
It is a real shame that he was so badly maligned for so many years after the Mookie Wilson error.
Two Mets games were rained out, cancelled in 1962. Since they would not effect anything, they were not made up. Thus, the 62 Mets still have the lowest all time winning percentage: .250. The White Sox this year finished at .253.
with love, artie
Artie: How lucky that your daughters were to share your passion with you! Most of us were not that lucky.
Yes Pat, you are correct. Your comment brings to mind a fantastic article that George Plimpton’s son Taylor Plimpton wrote for Sports Illustrated not too long ago. It was entitled Fathers, Kids and Fandom: A Plimpton on What’s Passed Between Generations. George Plimpton’s son muses on the bond he’s built with his own son through sports, much like his literary father did with him.
LMK if this link to the article works for you. (It might not as I am a subscriber.)
Neither Jennifer nor Alissa could be called athletic. Yet each of them is quite passionate about one more sports. The young Plimpton’s article discusses the somewhat ethereal ways that a love of sports can be passed down from generation to generation.
with love, artie
ps: Folks can learn about George Plimpton here.
pps: My Dad, the late Private First Class Robert Edward Morris, loved most sports. And that rubbed off on me.
Pat, I learned how to be a sports fan from my dad. I clearly recall one Sunday when I was in 2nd grade, my father was yelling at the tv. And I wondered what it was about. He explained that in football you get four tries to go ten yards. He grabbed paper and pen and started drawing plays for me to explain more about the game.
Like dad, if I have the tv on to keep me company, it’s pretty likely to be a sport of some kind . My husband has been known to say, do we have to watch another football game? I’m excited for hockey season to start next week.
Jennnifer