When the Mets acquired All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor from Cleveland during the off-season, it not only made the Amazins better but also created a tremendous amount of excitement to the fan base for a number of reasons. His play on the field will certainly make the fans happy, but he’s what he’s also bringing to Flushing is a personality and an off-the field excitement that has already made him an instant fan favorite.
Take photo day at Spring Training in Port St. Lucie on February 25th for example. Lindor showed up wearing a Mets jacket featuring a plethora of pins, the same jacket that Eddie Murphy wore in the 1988 movie “Coming to America”. The Mets posted a video on their social media channels of Lindor walking at their complex wearing the jacket.
“Good morning my neighbors,” said Lindor re-creating Murphy’s line in the movie.
Lindor created such a buzz by wearing the jacket that new Mets owner Steve Cohen was left wondering how he could get one himself.
Will Lindor help him out?
“We’re working on it,” Lindor told ESPN during Thursday’s telecast of the Mets’ 8-4 Spring Training win over the Nationals. “I’m sure he can afford one. They asked me if I wanted to wear it and I said let’s go let’s wear it. It was just a fun thing to do on picture day…a little different than what I normally do on picture day.”
And now with “Coming 2 America”, the sequel to the original movie, being released on Friday, Lindor’s few moments depicting the Prince/King Akeem Joffer character continues to be a subject of conversation. So much so that FOCO has wasted no time releasing a bobblehead of Lindor wearing the jacket.
“We’re very excited and happy for the opportunity to create such a fun piece,” said Anthony Davino, Affiliate Marketing Manage for FOCO. “As the Major League Baseball season approaches, we’re always looking for ways to activate different markets to get people amped up for Opening Day.”
It didn’t take FOCO long to come up with the idea for the bobblehead. In fact, as soon as the video was released, the wheels were in motion.
“It was almost instantaneous,” said Davino. “We knew we had to react quick when the Lindor post went viral. Being able to launch a final product this quickly after a moment occurs is special to us.”
On the field, Lindor brings a lot to the table for the Mets.
He is a four-time All-Star and has a career .285 batting average with 138 home runs and 411 runs batted in. Lindor has won two Gold Glove Awards and two Silver Slugger Awards while also helping the Indians reach the World Series back in 2016. He represented his native Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic and was named to the All-WBC team.
Now, he’s bringing his talents to New York and has his sights set on helping the Mets win a World Series.
Like right away.
“My goal is to win this year,” said Lindor during the ESPN interview. “For some people it might seem unrealistic but being in Cleveland people didn’t count on us the year we went to the World Series. We just gotta get hot at the right time and I believe in the group of guys that we have here. I didn’t come here to say I want to lose. I want to win. I think we have a good opportunity here with this organization.”
Lindor also has the opportunity to enjoy everything that New York has to offer including the many amazing food offerings that can be found in the Big Apple. Lindor is a big fan of pizza and that’s what he always indulged in every time that the Indians visited New York and Chicago.
But now, he’s going to be living in New York so he’s going to have more opportunities to have the best of the best!
“New York pizza is amazing,” said Lindor when that subject was posted to him by an ESPN announcer. “I’m looking forward to getting to New York to eat pizza but I’m a little bit scared because it might turn into me eating pizza three or four times a week.”
And what’s wrong with that?
Seriously, Francisco Lindor is a great fit for the Mets and he’s going to generate a lot of excitement at Citi Field. If Lindor doesn’t overdo it with the pizza, has a great season and the Mets have a lot of success, maybe it will lead to another movie…
“Coming to Flushing”
And maybe another bobblehead with Lindor holding a slice of pizza in one hand and the World Series trophy in the other!
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