Whether Sergio Romo is pitching for the Giants or the A’s, fans can always count on hearing “El Mechón” when he takes the mound. Romo shares how he chose this crowd pleaser of a song, and why he’s never changed it.
- Programming note: The full interview with Sergio Romo will air on "Summer Sunday" before and after the Giants-A's game on NBC Sports Bay Area this Sunday.
It doesn’t matter where you are, when you hear it on the speakers, you get up and dance.
When it’s Sergio Romo’s turn to come out of the bullpen, "El Mechón" starts to play. It was the song that he used during his time with the Giants, and it’s made its way to Oakland now that he’s a reliever for the Athletics.
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SIGN UP HERE Romo had no idea it would catch on as much as it did, especially when it comes to the story behind it.
“No, I didn’t know it was going to hit as hard as it did,” Romo told NBC Sports Bay Area’s "Summer Sunday" hosts Carmen Kiew and Anthony Garcia. “The kind of the way it started, it’s rather -- I don’t know how to describe the actual story on how it came about.”
Romo said it was the last game of the regular season in 2011.
“Two strikes, two outs in the top of the ninth, it’s like, 'One more strike, one more out and the season’s over,' ” Romo explained. “They say ‘Romo, you’re in the game.’ ”
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Romo had just remembered joking before the game, saying if he were to come into the game, he would want some “Mexican slap.”
“And yeah, I ended up getting in the game, and that hit in spring training the next year,” Romo added.
They asked if he wanted the same song, and he said yes.
“And then it just kind of hit, and it just hit and had forgotten I had changed it so when I went out and pitched that day, during that game, the first time it hit in spring training, everyone was just dancing, and I was like, ‘All right, well here we go.’ ”
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Romo said that despite it being received so well in San Francisco, he wasn’t surprised by just how much it was loved in Oakland … and beyond.
“I’m proud to say that everywhere, even in Mexico, I could play it in the offseason and winter they don’t really call me Romo anymore, they call me ‘El Mechón.’”
Romo’s anthem is embraced everywhere.
