At the beginning of the 2024 MLB season, how many collectors had Jose Iglesias cards heating up in September on their hobby bingo cards?
The answer is probably the same as how many music fans thought that Jose Iglesias would have the number one hit song on the Billboard Latin Digital Song Sales chart by the All-Star Break.
Iglesias, a journeyman middle infielder who is playing for his eighth Major League team in 11 years, has never topped any hobby hot lists before.
But now, he is a big deal in New York.
Iglesias is not as big of a star as Francisco Lindor or Pete Alonzo, but in other ways, his alter ego, Cendelita, might be bigger than both of them.
“OMG”, the chart-topping hit by Iglesias, or Candelita if we want to be technical, has become the New York Mets’ anthem. Not since “We Are Family” by the Sisters Sledge was adopted by the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates as their theme song has a team been so closely tied to a theme song. The music video has racked up 4.2 million views on YouTube.
After Iglesias performed the song at Citi Field on June 28 after a Mets victory over the Houston Astros, it became a fan favorite and made its debut at number one on the Billboard Latin charts.
His Mets teammates joined him to sing the chorus, and the entire crowd of Mets fans joined in.
Topps put it on a NOW card and it’s been among the most popular and talked cards on the platform.
One of the reasons it has been popular is that it is his only major league card released so far this season. The only other 2024 Iglesias card on the market is from the a Syracuse Mets team set.
For years, Iglesias cards were flatlining. His 2010 Bowman and 2011 Bowman and Topps rookie cards were never movers in the hobby. Even his rare serial-numbered parallels drew little interest, with the exception of some team collectors.
Last week, an Iglesias 2010 Bowman Chrome Refractor Autograph numbered out of 500 sold for $49.99 plus shipping on eBay. Without “OMG”, you could probably move the decimal one spot over to the left, and there might not be enough interest in the card to sell it.
In eBay auctions and fixed price sales this month, ungraded versions of his First Bowman card and more recent parallels with low serial numbers have been selling for less than $2. Some have even sold for under 50 cents. Mets fans and collectors are buying them, though, and his newfound celebrity status is one reason why. He’s a fun–and fascinating– story.
Who is Iglesias/Candelita?
Jose Iglesias isn’t a player who just arrived on the scene and had a breakthrough. He has been in the majors for a long time, and he has been very good for a long time.
Originally from Cuba, Iglesias defected as an 18-year-old. He and pitcher Noel Argüelles were playing with the Cuban national junior team in Canada in July 2008 when they defected.
Iglesias had been playing on the Cuban national team in his age group since the age of nine. Heading into the World Junior Championships in Edmonton in 2008, little was known about the Cuban team other than that they were good. There had been word of a power hitting first baseman named Yasiel Puig being one of the best players in the tournament. Canada was excited about their third baseman, Brett Lawrie. The favored Americans had a blue chip prospect named Mike Trout.
Iglesias had the reputation of being a slick infielder with a Major League-ready glove. But defecting was a huge risk. There was a possibility he would never see or speak to his family again. If her was caught, he would spend his prime baseball years in prison.
Argüelles’ father had been the goalkeeper for Cuba’s national soccer team when he defected in 1994. He was already in North America. Iglesias and Argüelles and his father drew up a plan. Iglesias kept the plan secret from his mother, because she would not have allowed it.
The Cuban team was staying in the residence at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. They won their first game, an 11-0 win over the Czech Republic. The team had lunch in the university cafeteria and had been instructed to have a nap before their game against Canada that night. Iglesias and Argüelles had a small window to make their plan work. They casually got up and walked outside. Argüelles’ father was waiting for them, and they got in the car and left.
Within days, they were in the United States. They met with Chicago-based lawyer and agent Jaime Torres, who worked with Cuban defectors. They had to establish a residence for Iglesias and Argüelles in the Dominican Republic.
It took a year for Iglesias to be declared a free agent. When he was, the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox got in a bidding war. Iglesias signed with the Red Sox, who gave him an $8.25 million deal which included a $6 million signing bonus.
Iglesias worked hard to learn to speak English as quickly as possible. His father was able to move to Miami, but his mother remained in Cuba. In 2013, he got to see his mother, hug her and thank her, when she was permitted to travel to Mexico to see him.
By 2011, Iglesias had been called up to the Major Leagues. He played 10 games for the Red Sox in 2011 and 25 in 2012.
In 2013, Iglesias made the everyday line-up in Boston. He was named AL Rookie of the Month and was hitting .330 after 63 games. At the trade deadline, the Red Sox sent him to Detroit as part of a three-player deal. He was the runner-up for the AL Rookie of the Year Award, edged out by Wil Myers.
Iglesias missed 2014 with stress fractures in both shins, but returned in 2015 and was a reserve at the 2015 All-Star Game.
Eventually, his nomadic run through the major leagues began. As a good defensive shortstop with a high batting average despite not having much power, there was always a team willing to give him a one-year deal. He played for the Reds, Orioles, Angles, Red Sox (again), and Rockies before signing with the Mets before the 2024 season.
During all of this, Iglesias has been writing songs and building his music career, working with producers and studios and getting videos filmed.
He started this season with Triple-A Syracuse before he was called up May 31. Since his call-up, the Mets have been on fire. They were 23-33 when the Mets called him up. Now, they are the National League team everyone is afraid to play in the playoffs.
Iglesias had three hits in his second start, and the Mets went on a 15-4 tear. They started playing “OMG” in the clubhouse. It also became the walk-up song for Iglesias. When “OMG” dropped, the entire team was wearing t-shirts in pre-game with a QR code sending anyone scanning it to the middle infielder’s music.
In September, Iglesias has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball while playing superb defense. The only reason he will not be player of the month is because of what Shohei Ohtani has been doing.
For the season, Iglesias is hitting .337 with an OPS of .840. Last week, he hit .467 with an OPS of 1.100 and a home run.
Shohei Ohtani might be baseball’s biggest rock star, but off the field, he is no Candelita.
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