Sal Licata has seemingly done an about-face on his blistering hot take on the Grimace phenomenon in connection to the Mets.
The WFAN host had poo-pooed the beloved McDonald’s character’s fame following fans and media giving Grimace credit for the Mets’ turnaround after the purple creature had thrown out the first pitch at Citi Field on June 12.
But on SNY’s “Baseball Night in New York,” Licata steered into the skid in a playful skit where he jokingly apologized to Grimace, though the segment featured a person in a fake Grimace costume.
“I need to bury the hatchet here. I’ve been resisting this force for far too long, but its impact has made its presence felt here,” Licata started off saying in a serious tone before welcoming in the imposter Grimace.
“Grimace I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. It was just raw emotion. Maybe I was jealous. Maybe I was scared of you as a kid and I carried that over, I didn’t want to give you any credit for this Mets run. But you threw out a great first pitch and obviously the record speaks for itself since.”
Licata had not been a fan of the Grimace craze as everyone and their mothers jumped onto the bandwagon after the Mets began stringing together wins following the character’s appearance at Citi Field.
They won seven straight after Grimace threw out the first pitch and the Mets have won nine of their last 11 games.
The notion that the purple character was getting any sort of credit – jokingly or not – infuriated Licata who made mention of it twice last week on his WFAN program with co-host Brandon Tierney
“I understand nobody really thinks Grimace is responsible for this but what you don’t understand is that everybody that references Grimace, it’s making a mockery for the Mets,” Licata said. “The Mets earned the credit here, not because of some goofball mascot Grimace. His fat, purple ass. I’m so tired of Grimace.”
In the tongue-in-cheek apology, Licata made sure to take his lumps for the personal attacks he levied at Grimace.
“I made it personal, too, I called you fat,” he said. “I love the color purple, I mean I’m even wearing purple, so I don’t know why I was so angry with you.”
The two shared a hug to end the segment.
