After a historic World Series win for the Washington Nationals, free agent Gerardo Parra doesn’t want to go anywhere. And neither does “Baby Shark.”
Parra, who originated the “Baby Shark” hype by using the kids’ song as his walk up music, joined “CBS This Morning” and revealed a willingness to sign with the team given the opportunity. Free agency is fully underway and unsigned players get to negotiate with other teams.
“For sure. I want to stay. One, two years — three or four. Whatever God gives me,” Parra said when asked if he wants to stay with the Nats.
Oh. And he would absolutely keep “Baby Shark” as his walk-up song.
“Yes, right now the ‘Baby Shark’ for me is inside of my heart. Every kid is happy, that’s the more important thing about ‘Baby Shark’ for me,” Parra said.
Using the song as his walk-up music was all inspired by his 2-year, 10-month-old child who would play it 20 times and was “jumping, happy, every time smiling” while listening to it.
“When everybody heard that song — surprised. Even my teammates. After that week, everybody [went] crazy and enjoyed [it]. The kids — that’s the most important,” Parra said.
This year’s baseball champs had many fun moments besides “Baby Shark” through their World Series run: silly traditions like gold and rose sunglasses, dugout dances and twerking to Pedro Capó’s “Calma.”
But that wasn’t always the case. After a team win (before the World Series) Parra said he went to the clubhouse and saw that everybody had left.
“If we won, we have to enjoy,” Parra said.
And while some may credit Parra as the one who boosted the Nats’ bond and culture, he thinks every team member had a role.
“I think everybody put in a special moment. We started in the clubhouse … When I see everyone, it’s like family. It’s not 25 names, just one team.”
Parra made a whopping $555,000 salary for 2019.
He’s one of nine players on the World Series Championship team that are currently free agents including Anthony Rendon, Brian Dozier, Fernando Rodney, Howie Kendrick, Jonny Venters, Daniel Hudson, Jeremy Hellickson and Asdrúbal Cabrera.