From role player to starring role: Former Met José Iglesias heads to Broadway

When the phone call came in about a month-and-a-half ago, José Iglesias didn’t quite believe it. Broadway producers were asking the shortstop, a veteran of 13 seasons in the big leagues, to join the cast of the hit musical “Buena Vista Social Club.”

“Are you guys calling the right guy?’” Iglesias asked.

“Yes, we know who we’re talking to,” went the voice on the other end. “Are you José Iglesias, ‘OMG?’”

Iglesias’ talent as a pop musician became clear while he was still a ball player. Just two years ago, his song “OMG,” short for “Oh my God,” became an anthem for his team at the time, the New York Mets. Under his stage name Candelita, Iglesias performed the song at the Mets’ Citi Field after a game in June 2024.

Now, starting Aug. 27 — less than a full year since Iglesias last played in the majors — he’s agreed to join the Tony Award-winning “Buena Vista Social Club.” for a six-week run in the role of the narrator at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York. He’s set to become the first Latino Major League Baseball player to perform on Broadway, according to the production, which announced his casting Thursday.

Exactly how much singing and dancing Iglesias himself will do is still being worked out, he said, but he expects to perform at least one song in the production. The show, which opened last year, tells a story he was familiar with as a child in Cuba, about a legendary group of musicians in Havana.

Iglesias called the opportunity to join the cast “breathtaking.”

“There’s a lot of history behind that band, a lot of great memories,” Iglesias said. “How it traveled around the world with authentic Cuban music, I grew up listening to it. My dad was a big fan. It’s literally a dream come true to be part of such a great musical.”

The Afro-Cuban band that will be playing behind Iglesias received a Grammy award for 2026’s best musical theater album, as well as a special Tony Award in 2025. The production took home four additional Tonys that year as well.

Now, of course, comes the hard part: preparing for the biggest stage in musical theater. At first, Iglesias said he was “really, really nervous.”

“I lost some sleep, I’m not gonna lie,” Iglesias said. “Just like we’re gonna face an ace and a good pitcher in the playoffs: that type of energy, that type of adrenaline, that’s how it feels. It was tough, it was tough — but in a good way. In a great way.”

Quickly, Iglesias set out to find coaches who could help him prepare. In theater, “everything is so big,” he said, and he wants to deliver a performance that’s respectful of the fans and Broadway at large.

“When you have a normal conversation, in theater, you disappear, so you have to exaggerate every movement, everything you say, and how you say it and the intentions behind it,” Iglesias said. “I know how to hit a sinker, I know how to take a sweeper away, and crush four-seamers. But it never never crossed my mind to do such a great thing.”

The only Broadway show Iglesias believes he has seen is MJ the Musical, about pop star Michael Jackson. But he’s relishing the chance to return to New York, where he left an outsized mark in one season of play.

In 2024, he and the Mets made it to the National League Championship Series, and Iglesias hit .337 in 85 regular-season games along the way.

“What happened in that city, or my city, it was so intimate,” Iglesias remembered. “What happened that year with OMG and the New York Mets, every single player, it was immaculate. It was magnificent. It was real.

“I don’t think ‘OMG’ opened the door. I personally think ‘OMG’ is the door for an opportunity like this.”

To Iglesias, it’s too early to say whether he could have a second career on Broadway. He’s performed his music live before, but the theater will be “a whole different animal.”

Funny enough, the 36-year-old’s hope entering this year was that come late August, he would still be in a dugout somewhere. Unsigned last offseason, Iglesias felt he was in great shape, and he had enjoyed his time in 2025 with the San Diego Padres. He was ready to again help out a team as a veteran presence.

“I was in shock I did not get any MLB calls,” said Iglesias, who played in 112 games for the Padres last year. “But on the other hand, I was so blessed.

“I have not stopped playing baseball for 29 years straight. This is actually the first time ever that I won’t grab a bat.”

Broadway and baseball have crossed paths at other points over time. “Damn Yankees” won the Tony Award for best musical in 1956, while “Take Me Out” received the Tony Award for best play in 2003. Hall of Famer Cap Anson appeared on Broadway in “A Runaway Colt” in the late 19th century, while he was still playing baseball.

More recently, the Savannah Bananas, an independent baseball team that bends the sport’s traditional rules, have had Broadway stars make cameos on the diamond.

Iglesias hopes other ball players now will be inspired to explore their talents.

“It’s a very positive moment for baseball players as well,” Iglesias said. “They also have dreams to be something else, because I know a lot of players that love music, they love to sing and they love to play instruments. But they’re on the baseball field 24/7.”

Iglesias believes the hardest part of his new job might come when his old teammates show up in the first row. Some already have plans to catch a performance, and he thinks it’ll be emotional to see his teammates looking up at him.

“I’m sure I’m gonna be at that show at some point,” said Francisco Lindor, the Mets’ star shortstop. “It’s gonna be fun. I haven’t seen him in a long time and I miss him, so I’m looking forward to it.”

But Broadway will also be emotional for Iglesias because of what it means to his own winding journey. He defected from Cuba as a teenager to pursue his baseball dreams, signing with the Boston Red Sox in 2009.

“I left my country, I left my family, my dad at the time, my mom, everything behind when I was 17 years old,” Iglesias said. “Coming to Canada, planning to leave the Cuban national team, just a dream to be a big-league player. And then I crossed the border by myself.

“I didn’t know nobody in the U.S. at the time. I didn’t know where I was gonna sleep, and then one and a half years later, I was hitting bloopers in Fenway Park.”

Iglesias was being playful about his reputation as a player, which did not include prowess as a power hitter — hence, the bloopers. But he was excellent defensively.

“Havana to Canada, Canada to the U.S, ‘OMG,’ Broadway,” Iglesias said. “It’s like easy to say, but I’ve been through so much.”

Never a stage quite like this, however.

“I love energy. I love life,” Iglesias said. “I love making an impact in people’s lives, however I can.”

—With contributions from The Athletic’s Tim Britton