NEW YORK — After more than 11 months and hundreds of singalongs, “My Girl” finally has some company atop the charts at Citi Field.
New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, whose pivot to The Temptations’ “My Girl” as his walk-up song last May coincided with a turnaround in fortunes for Lindor and his teammates, added “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” — the 1967 duet by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell — to his rotation prior to his second at-bat in Friday’s 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs.
“It’s the vibes — the vibes I’m in right now,” Lindor said with a grin Friday night. “I think it’s a fantastic song. Hopefully the fans can vibe to it, too.”
Lindor’s success with “My Girl” and the accompanying pop culture sensation made his pivot a surprise to the 41,243 fans in attendance Friday, if not his teammates.
Lindor was batting .210 and the Mets were 22-30 when he debuted “My Girl” last May 28, but Lindor hit .306 the rest of the way and finished second in NL MVP balloting as New York made it to the National League Championship Series. The Temptations performed the song, along with the national anthem, prior to Game 5 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Lindor hit a leadoff homer for the first-place Mets on Friday — his 34th round-tripper in 137 games since introducing “My Girl.”
“There were some fans that yelled at me,” Lindor said. “But there were some other ones that were singing.”
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, who is walking up to Eric Clapton’s “Layla” this year after using Rush’s “Working Man” and Don McLean’s “American Pie” in previous seasons, said Lindor hinted at the change during the just-concluded road trip to St. Louis and Arizona.
“He said he was going to do it and no one believed him,” Alonso said Saturday. “I think it’s a good one — that’s a great walk-up song.”
Lindor acknowledged some teammates wanted him to stick with “My Girl” and said he’d alternate the songs in hopes his new selection grows in popularity.
“Man, the movie ‘Remember The Titans’ — who doesn’t know that?” Lindor said, referring to the song’s usage in the 2000 film. “It’s a great song. So we’ll see if it catches on. If it doesn’t catch on — since I got pushback from some people — they’re still going to get ‘My Girl.’”
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