The only thing that felt out of place was the fact that Brian Dozier had on a shirt. After months of fans imploring Puerto Rican artist Pedro Capó to visit the Nationals, the singer behind the team’s unofficial anthem, “Calma,” finally made it to Nats Park on Sunday before Game 5 of the World Series.
Capó got a tour of the ballpark and even sang “Calma” along with Dozier and Nats pitcher Aníbal Sánchez.
As Elahe Izadi wrote in the Post, Dozier, a Mississippi native, has made it a point to learn Spanish to bond with his Latin teammates. His rendition of “Calma” is proof that he’s done his homework.
“A way for me to learn more Spanish and interact is through music, Spanish songs,” Dozier told the Post. “We have some Latinos obviously on the team, and so they let me know the number ones out and stuff, the best songs to dance to listen to. And so I just go and try to learn it, and you learn words through that way.”
The Nats have blasted a remix of the song, which features Farruko and has over a billion views on YouTube, inside the clubhouseafter pivotal wins this season.
D.C. sports fan Danny, who runs the popular Twitter account @recordsANDradio, has tweeted a video that Gerardo Parra took of Dozier singing “Calma” on a plane, complete with sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt, after Nats’ victories.
So when I heard that familiar melody come on over the speakers around 10:45 p.m. on Sept. 25 after the Nats clinched a wild-card spot, I sprinted over to the middle of the clubhouse, where a shirtless Dozier sang the verses at the top of his lungs and twerked as his Latin teammates poured beer over him.
I pulled out my phone to record a 30-second video that I would hastily post on Twitter (hence the typo). I immediately knew it would go viral. By the morning, the video had 1.2 million views.
Since then, each time the Nats have had a celebration, dozens of reporters and TV cameras have waited in anticipation for “Calma” to come on, where a shirtless Dozier is often the center of attention.
The front page of the Post after the Nats clinched a berth to the World Series featured an image of Dozier dancing shirtless to the song.
And in the process, the Nats gained a famous fan: Capó himself.