Only one person participated in the Mets’ “OMG” celebration at Citi Field on Tuesday night.
And it wasn’t anyone wearing orange and blue.
Rather, it was Austin Adams, who the Mets DFA’d on Feb. 6 and traded to the Oakland A’s for cash on March 24. Adams appeared in seven spring training games for the Mets but didn’t end up cracking the roster. Since then, he’s gone on to have a solid season for Oakland, with a 3.92 ERA in 56 games.
That campaign included the fifth inning against the Mets Tuesday night, when Adams struck out Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez en route to stranding a pair of Joe Boyle‘s inherited runners. In between the two punchouts, he induced a popup from José Iglesias, the multitalented writer and singer of what has essentially become the Mets’ anthem this year in “OMG.”
As soon as Adams got Alvarez to swing and miss at his slider, he paused on the mound. He threw his arms up three times, then barked a slew of profanities as he marched back towards the dugout.
“I pitch on emotion. I need to do a better job of maybe not doing that,” Adams told reporters after the game. “Listen, when you get DFA’d, you’re told you’re not good enough to play for a team anymore, it sucks. So, yeah, a little extra juice today.”
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Adams halted a potential comeback by the Mets, who only scored one run in three games in Seattle before coming back home hoping to reverse the energy. They fell behind 7-1 early on Tuesday, but had gotten it back to 7-4 against Boyle before Adams came in.
“I thought the celebration was pretty funny,” Boyle said. “He was fired up. I know he doesn’t mean anything bad by it. He’s just having a good time playing baseball.”
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza had similarly little issue with it. He said that things ended on good terms with Adams, and that he said hi to him before Tuesday’s game.
But Mets closer Edwin Díaz wasn’t quite as thrilled with it.
“He crossed a line because that’s something we do when we hit a homer or something,” Díaz told The New York Post.
The celebration seemingly left a bitter taste in Díaz’s mouth.
“He [can] always do it, that’s fine. But he can’t get mad if we do something to him the next couple of days,” Díaz added.
Adams insisted that the reaction was spontaneous, and not something that he planned or meant any serious ill will by. He referred to himself as being an “organic” pitcher.
“Honestly, I looked up, and I was so surprised that I got out of it. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ And then it dawned on me: Oh my gosh,” Adams said, referring to the title of Iglesias’ song and the Mets’ celebration. “And then so I did it. I mean, that song is sick. Iglesias is a good dude. So hopefully, no one is offended. Just having fun.”
It seems that Díaz was.
In any case, this whole debacle, plus a losing streak that has reached four games, have rapidly dampened the spirits of a Mets team that was in postseason position very recently. The Mets are now two games behind the Braves for the third Wild Card. They’re certainly not out of it yet. But they’re losing right now, and what’s arguably even worse right now is the vibes surrounding the team, with an opposing player mocking the Mets’ celebration on their home grass.
They still have two more games against the A’s to right the ship. They’ll try to get back to doing their own “OMG” celebrations, and not let anyone on the opposing team steal the spotlight under the bright New York lights over the next couple of days.
