This year’s season for the New York Mets included new rituals. Starting in June, after every Mets home run, the slugger crossed the plate and snapped a photo labeled “OMG.”
It is a tribute to a song of the same name released by Mets player and Latin pop sensation Jose Iglesias.
The 34-year-old Mets center fielder performs his music under the name Candelita. The song and banner appeared as the Mets warmed up in June, shortly after Grimace was ejected from the first pitch.
What You Need to Know The “OMG” tag is a tribute to a song of the same name released by Mets player and Latin pop star Jose Iglesias.
Jerome McRoy is the artist who made the sign, a lifelong Mets fan who creates custom woodwork, much of it inspired by pop culture and sports
He brought the sign to the ballpark in late June, and after bumping into Mets co-owner Alex Cohen, he asked her to give it to the team.
After a bad start, the season turned upside down. The banner brought success to more than just the players on the field.
“I just wanted to make it a gift for the team,” Jerome McRoy, the artist who made the sign, told NY1. “And it completely changed my life. I literally got a tattoo on my arm because the last three months have been such a whirlwind.”
McRoy is a lifelong Mets fan who creates custom woodwork, much of it inspired by popular culture and sports. He brought the sign to the ballpark in late June, and after bumping into Mets co-owner Alex Cohen, he asked her to give it to the team.
Little did either of them know that the team would turn this celebration on its home field that night, during a game that ended with Iglesias’ performance on the field. They’ve been faking it ever since.
“With the three home runs that night, they were featured on the back cover of Newsday magazine. “I wake up to like 500 Twitter messages and Instagram messages,” McRoy said, “and my account is through the roof and everyone wants a sign, ‘Oh my God, and I wasn’t planning on To sell any of them.
McRoy believed the banner would remain at the club. When the Mets took her on the road, she took a beating, and in July, the “O” went off. He made a new, sturdier resin-coated one, and hand-delivered it to Iglesias at a game in Pittsburgh. In the crowd, there were fans with cardboard replicas.
“I literally cried on the way home because, for me, it feels so fresh now. It’s emotional to have your work in someone’s home to begin with,” he said. “But then, to have fans all over the country reach out,” he said. “Hey, how can I get a track like this?” they said, adding that fans asked if it was okay for them to make their own tracks as well. “This movement is for all of us. This is for all the Mets fans. It’s not just about making a profit for me.”
McRoy has always been an artist, but he hasn’t always paid the bills. He spent most of his adult life working in retail and nine to five other jobs. He returned to painting when his son was born, and they separated temporarily for a few years when McRoy took a job on the West Coast, a way for them to connect.
In 2020, he began focusing on his art full-time after a Yankees-themed piece of music he made for a friend went viral.
But it was still difficult to make a living. A few weeks before the “Oh my God” signal, he sent out some job applications for part-time work.
“And then it happened, ‘Oh my God,’ and I never looked at the order again,” he said.
The Mets haven’t looked back either. They clinched their spot in the postseason on Monday, with help from Candeleta himself — Iglesias, who has been a hitter all year, drove in a crucial run.
