Mike Castellani put aside his pregame dinner, leaned back and smiled. Dressed in a blue polo shirt and gray jeans and twirling a pair of eyeglasses in his hand, he was as ready as he would ever be for the music to begin.
Castellani has been the sound man for the Mets since 1994, through some good years and numerous bad ones. From a room overlooking Citi Field filled with 35 monitors and co-workers banging on keypads, he can turn on the music in one of the stadium’s ritzy lounges with the flick of a finger.
With another flick, he can cue the walk-up music that plays over the public-address system when Mets batters stroll to the plate or when the team’s relief pitchers jog in from the bullpen.