The New York Mets clinched a postseason berth in dramatic fashion on Monday afternoon, capping their season’s remarkable turnaround with a clutch win against their divisional rival the Atlanta Braves. Why, you might ask, should Artnet News readers care? Because a gift from an artist just might have been the key to the baseball team’s resurgence.

Yes, you heard that right. With each home run and RBI, players in the dugout have been brandishing a sign in Mets blue and orange reading “OMG” designed by 48-year-old artist Jerome McCroy. The Ridgewood, Queens, native is a lifelong Mets fan who has 14,000 followers on Instagram under @Jaymaccustoms.

“It was really meant to be a a token of gratitude for a team that I just didn’t want to see give up,” McCroy told me, speaking over the phone while driving to Milwaukee to catch the Mets in the first game of the playoffs later today.

He typically goes to about 30 or 40 Mets games a season, and has brought other artworks he’s made in homage to games before. McCroy actually hand-delivered the OMG sign to Alex Cohen, wife of Mets owner—and noted art collector—Steve Cohen, as a gift to the players. It made its debut at the team’s stadium, Citi Field, on June 28 and has been a staple of Mets telecasts ever since. (McCroy, meanwhile, has upped his attendance to an impressive 75 games!)

Francisco Lindor (right), shortstop of the New York Mets, celebrates with pitchers Luis Severino (left) and Jose Quintana (center) with an OMG sign by artist Jerome McCroy after hitting a solo home run in the ninth inning during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 11, 2024, in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image of Sport/Getty Images.

The sign comes from the Mets’ unofficial 2024 anthem, “OMG,” a unlikely number one hit on Billboard’s Latin charts from their infielder Jose Iglesias under the stage name Candelita.

And both the sign and the song have been inescapable as the Mets have climbed their way out of the cellar of the National League and into the playoffs—an unlikely triumph for a franchise better known for subjecting its devoted fans to heartbreak.

The 2024 campaign began inauspiciously, with five straight losses—only three teams have previously made it to the playoffs after such a poor start. On May 29, the Mets were 11 games under .500 at 22–33, and the season seemed like a lost cause. But since that date, the team has had the best record in the MLB, finishing out the year 67–40—a .626 winning percentage.

So what made the difference? Some people credit Grimace, the purple McDonald’s mascot. (McCroy also has a neon green and purple Grimace version of the sign.) Grimace threw out the first pitch on June 12 and has since been adopted as an unofficial team mascot of sorts. (The Mets’ winning percentage from that date is .635.)

Others point to the team meeting shortstop Francisco Lindor called on May 29. (He’s had an MVP-caliber season since then, including a game-winning home run on Monday, which announcer Gary Cohen dubbed Lin-sanity, a callback to 2011 New York Knicks phenomena Jeremy Lin.)

Infielder Jose Iglesias of New York Mets holds up a OMG sign by artist Jerome McCroy after the game against the Houston Astros at Citi Field on June 28, 2024. Iglesias gave a postgame concert to celebrate the release of his new single, also called “OMG.” Photo by New York Mets/MLB Photos via Getty Images.

And then there’s 34-year-old Iglesias, who the Mets called up from Triple–A on May 31. The veteran hadn’t played in the majors since 2022, and had begun recording music in his downtime. Iglesias started using his unreleased song, “OMG,” for his walk-up music, and subsequently played some of the best baseball of his career, including a 21-game hit streak to end the regular season.

As the Mets started to get hot, the team began playing “OMG” in the clubhouse. Soon, it was the team’s unofficial song, played at Citi Field after Mets home runs. Iglesias dropped it as a single on June 28, performing a post-game concert at the stadium. That was also the night that the “OMG” sign made its first appearance.

Artist Jerome McCroy with his OMG signs and Alex Cohen, wife of Mets owner Steve Cohen. Photo courtesy of Jerome McCroy.

McCroy based the design on a logo Iglesias was using on t-shirts to promote the song’s release after Alex Cohen shared a photo of one on social media.

Inspired by the Mets’ June rebound, McCroy spent about six hours crafting two signs and brought them to the game ahead of Iglesias’s performance. Coincidentally, McCroy ran into Alex Cohen at the stadium bar before the first pitch, and asked if she would be willing to give one of the signs to the players.

Then, during the game, his phone started blowing up. The “OMG” sign was on the telecast. The next morning, there was second baseman Jeff McNeil holding it up on the back cover of Newsday, grinning like a cheshire cat. (He subsequently earned the nickname “Happy Jeff.”)

“I’ve always been an artist my whole life,” McCroy said, noting he had studied art in high school and at “YouTube University.” But like so many artists, he had for years put art on the back burner to focus on a more steady paycheck, first in retail and then, in 2020, at a Manhattan MiniStorage.

Members of the New York Mets celebrate after defeating the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Monday, September 30, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Todd Kirkland/MLB Photos via Getty Images.

McCroy actually lived in an apartment at the storage facility in site manager housing, and turned it into a studio as he got back into creating custom wooden wall cutouts. His boss wasn’t too keen on him operating a CNC machine and laser cutting at work, but what he made started gaining traction on Instagram. In 2022, McCroy was able to quit his day job to focus on his art full time.

The resin-coated sign he made for the Mets came at a crucial moment for his career, when McCroy was starting to send out applications for a new day job. The sign seemed to tap into the zeitgeist. The players immediately embraced it. Fans—including me—began making their own poster versions to wave in the stands, or buying copies from the artist at $200 a pop. He estimates he’s sold 160 to date, plus countless enamel pins of the logo.

“I make a lot of Mets-related art, and I’m just happy to see that it latched on within the clubhouse, and became a fan celebration of sorts,” McCroy said, noting that the season has “been such a fun and wild ride” that has seen him visit the owner’s suite, stand atop the dugout, and get interviewed on the Citi Field jumbotron: “I am just living my 10-year-old dream right now.”

Fast-forward to Monday, September 30—the day after the season was supposed to have ended. The Mets had kept winning, but had not yet secured their chance to play October baseball.

Artist Jerome McCroy with his OMG signs and Mets owner—and art collector—Steve Cohen. Photo courtesy of Jerome McCroy.

The Mets went into the day needing to win one of two games in a doubleheader at the Braves that was delayed from last week due to Hurricane Helene. If either team swept, the other would be eliminated, giving the last wildcard playoff spot to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Beating the Braves was something of a monkey off the back for the Mets, who ended the 2022 season needing just a single victory in three away games against Atlanta to lock up the division. The boys from Queens failed to get the job done, and then immediately crashed out of the wildcard round against the San Diego Padres. (The Mets had an abysmal 26-44 record in Atlanta in September since 1997 going into the series, winning just five games to 21 losses when both teams have been above .500.)

This time around, the two teams split the doubleheader, with the Mets coming from behind not once but twice to win game one and punch their ticket to the playoffs.

“From 0-5 to OMG! What a ride!” quipped Gary Cohen.

The Mets, Braves, and Diamondbacks all finished with the same record, 89 and 73. Because Arizona had a losing record for the season against both the Mets and Braves, that left them on the outside looking in.

The playoffs start today, with the Braves playing the Padres and the Mets facing off with the Milwaukee Brewers—”OMG” sign in tow, and the artist who made it in the stands.