There are walk-up songs, and then there's the immersive experience that is New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz's trot from the bullpen to the pitching mound at Citi Field.
We can't say the lights-out closer's dominant season -- Diaz has 26 saves and a 1.39 ERA and has struck out 91 batters in just 45â…“ innings pitched -- is due entirely to Blasterjaxx & Timmy Trumpet's "Narco," but the electric entrance certainly hasn't hurt.
The Diaz show has become such an attraction that when he enters the game in the ninth inning, the Mets TV broadcast doesn't even go to a commercial break. Rather, the camera follows the pitcher as the crowd takes to its feet, dancing and clapping in what feels like an anticipatory celebration of another Mets win.
If Sunday's victory over the Atlanta Braves, in which Diaz struck out Dansby Swanson, Matt Olson and Austin Riley on 14 pitches, was any indication, Mets fans will have plenty of reason to keep the party going for the remainder of the season.
Sound 'em. 🎺🎺🎺 pic.twitter.com/wPv2R0GDxt
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 7, 2022
Excuse us while we run through a wall.
Even Buck Showalter bought into the hype. On Monday, the manager confessed to delaying his bathroom break in order to watch the moment for himself.
Buck Showalter said he refrained from using the bathroom in the 9th inning to watch Edwin DÃaz's entrance yesterday
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 8, 2022
(and he still had time for his bathroom trip 😂) pic.twitter.com/tgZAMFIkEr
If you're an engaged Mets fan and you don't use the trumpets as the walkout song at your forthcoming nuptials, that's a miss on your part.