Flores debuts 'Friends' walk-up music
When New York Mets infielder Wilmer Flores stepped to the plate Sunday against the Washington Nationals, he was accompanied by some new walk-up music.
Flores walked to the dish to the sounds of "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandts, which is the famous opening song of the TV program "Friends."
The Venezuelan decided to pay homage to the sitcom because it had a great effect on his life when he first arrived in the U.S. and couldn't speak a lick of English. The show helped him learn not only the language, but helped teach him about American culture.
"It’s one of my favorite shows," Flores told Marc Carig of Newsday. "I watch it every day before I go to sleep. It’s on Netflix. It’s on Nick at Nite every night."
Flores signed with the Mets as an amateur free agent in 2007 and was ready to quit the team early in his career after being homesick.
"I was just a homebody," Flores explained. "I signed and then my grandma calls me. Says she missed me. I wanted to go home. It was my birthday and I was by myself. I had all my family crying because I wasn’t there. The hell with this. The last month, I just didn't want to be there ... At the end of the year, I told (former Mets vice president of development) Tony Bernazard I wanted to go home. He said 'no.'"
In 2009, while at Class-A Savannah, Flores resolved to start speaking more English, and stumbled on "Friends" on TV.
Flores has since seen all 236 episodes of the show. He's also provided the Mets with 3.5 WAR over four seasons, slashing .256/.295/.405 with 38 home runs and 148 RBIs.