With Mother’s Day taking place in the U.S. on Sunday, everyone got in on the celebration. Even those who were in the middle of Sunday Night Baseball.

As the Braves led the Mets, 1-0, in the top of the third inning in New York, Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo got a surprise visit through his dugout headset. The ESPN broadcast crew simply told Nimmo that a fan would be hopping on the line with a pre-recorded question, before it was revealed to be Nimmo’s mother, Patti Nimmo.

“Brandon, as your number one fan, I’m so proud of you and the man you have become,” Patti said. “You have faced some great big league pitching, but have you ever seen a better pitch than the ‘Windup Wilma’ which I pitched to you when you were growing up?”

The “Windup Wilma” was a reference to an episode of “The Flintstones” where family matriarch Wilma becomes a baseball pitcher. And Nimmo certainly showed appreciation for its impact on his growth.

“No I haven’t, and Mom, that’s why I’m such a good hitter now is because of that ‘Windup Wilma,'" Nimmo said with a laugh, as the ESPN broadcast showed footage of Patti pitching underhanded to a very young Brandon. “I really worked on that strike zone command, and that’s definitely why I’m here.”

All playful banter about “The Flintstones” aside, Nimmo proceeded to show thorough appreciation for his mother for a couple of minutes on the broadcast. For the 32-year-old Nimmo, who was born in Wyoming, his upbringing was a core reason that he’s in his ninth big league season today.

“I’m so thankful for my mom, and happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. We all know that you make the world go ‘round, and I just am so thankful for mine,” said Nimmo, who signed an eight-year, $162 million contract with the Mets last offseason. “She was such a light to me, and as you can tell, just such a sweet soul. Love her to death, and I would not be here without her. … She sacrificed so much for me to be here, and I love her so much.”

Beyond showing gratitude for Patti driving him and his siblings all over the Mountain West for various baseball tournaments -- “You gotta drive a way to get to some good baseball,” he said -- Nimmo also gave a glimpse into an unconventional Mother’s Day tradition that was established during his childhood.

“I’ll tell you a funny story; she used to get a bat for Mother’s Day every year,” Nimmo said. “Every time we’d be at a tournament of some sort, the running joke was she always got a bat from others, and she would give it to me to use. We definitely got her other presents, don’t worry about that, but it did seem like every Mother’s Day was when I was getting a bat again.”

Given that Nimmo has carved out a role as one of the game’s better center fielders, including four straight seasons with an .800-plus OPS entering 2024, it seems that the bat investments have paid off. In fact, that payoff became evident in the game’s most important moment on Sunday, as Nimmo, who had entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, hit a two-run walk-off homer in the ninth to clinch a 4-3 win.

“It just shows how selfless she was, she went along with the joke just fine,” he said. "She was just so important to who I am today, and the baseball player I am today.”