Wilmer Flores now walks up to the 'Friends' theme song and the reason why is wonderful

Last week, Yoenis Céspedes stole headlines and crushed game-winnning homers when he started using "Circle of Life" from The Lion King as his walkup song. But it's a new week, and for the Mets, a new walkup song: This time, during the Mets' 5-1 win over the Nationals on Sunday, Wilmer Flores debuted, um, "Friends?"

Yes, like many of us who watched TV in the early-1990s, Wilmer found it hard to resist Joey's charm and Phoebe's musical talents. But as Newsday's Marc Carig reports, the reason is also much deeper and more wonderful than you might think.
"The story begins in Savannah, Georgia, where a teenage Wilmer Flores, playing minor-league ball for the Mets, found comfort in tracking the lives of a bunch of 20-somethings living in Manhattan. That he had nothing in common with the people on the screen meant little to Flores, who was fighting homesickness after leaving his native Venezuela."
The show is still very meaningful to him -- a program from which he honed some of his English and learned about American culture -- so he decided to show it off to the world during the Sunday Night ESPN broadcast. More from Flores via Carig:
"It's one of my favorite shows," said Flores, who, like many, became a fan of Rachel Green, portrayed by Jennifer Aniston. "I watch it every day before I go to sleep. It's on Netflix. It's on Nick at Nite every night."
Go read more about Flores' Friends connection here and dream of Wilmer dancing in fountains with Cespedes and Noah Syndergaard ... or don't dream, because now you can watch it for real. Well, sort of real: