The King of Queens is back on his throne.
Kevin James – longtime New York Mets fan and star of the sitcom "The King of Queens" – was in the stands at Citi Field on Tuesday to watch his favorite team from Flushing take on the Baltimore Orioles.
But before making his way to his seat, the native Long Islander threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Wearing a Mets hat and personalized No. 7 James jersey, he used a slow-motion wind-up to deliver a one-hopper to the plate.
James then got on the microphone to hype up the crowd, recreating his epic and highly-energetic Daytona 500 "Start your engines!" intro from 2007.
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“God bless America! God bless our troops! God bless the New York Mets!” he screamed. “And gentlemen, let’s play ball!”
MLB
When the game was underway, James discussed “The King of Queens” -- which originally aired on CBS from 1998 to 2007 and will join the Cozi TV lineup beginning Sept. 9.
“I think it was like 25, 26 years since it started, so it blows me away that it’s still around,” James told SNY’s Steve Gelbs during an in-game interview. “It really does. It’s staggering to me.”
James' character, Doug Heffernan, was a delivery driver who lived in Queens with his wife, Carrie (Leah Remini), and his father-in-law, Arthur (Jerry Stiller). Heffernan was also a Mets fan in the show, regularly wearing team apparel and watching games.
“I just think funny, talented people choose a team that needs help, but it can do it for you,” James said when asked why so many comedians like himself, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and others are fans of the Mets. “You want to root for them. They’re the little train that could, the little engine that could. Is that what it is?”
The Mets, of course, haven’t won a World Series since 1986, when James was 21 years old.
“It’s painful, but it’s like comedians are used to pain, they like being around that,” James said. “It’s that conflict that brings them in and the challenge. The Mets sure have been giving me that over the years.”
As they did on Tuesday, losing 9-5 to the Orioles. But James keeps coming back, just as his character did. In one episode, Heffernan goes to a Mets game and gets revenge on a kid in the stands who throws carrots at him for robbing his foul ball.
James in 2006 was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The sitcom was back in the spotlight last year when a photo of James from the series became "The King of Memes." The image of James smirking with his hands in his pockets quickly went viral, with James even using it in a social media post at the time to promote his stand-up tour.
The Mets’ crosstown rivals even posted it.
While there’s no denying James’ allegiance to the Mets -- having named his second daughter Shea in honor of the Mets former ballpark Shea Stadium -- he did attend a New York Yankees game earlier this year. He had high praise for the stadium's Grub Tub -- which combines chicken fingers, fries and soda conveniently packaged in all-encompassing tub.
"I don't know if the Mets are doing this ... but congratulations to the Yankees ... today you win," James posted on social media with a photo of the Grub Tub.
The Yankees responded by posting a photoshopped version of the James meme, adding a Yankee hat and Grub Tub.
The meme – along with syndication and streaming – helped introduce a new generation of viewers to the 207-episode sitcom.
That will continue with “The King of Queens” set to become part of Cozi TV’s lineup. The show will air Monday through Friday and on Sunday, with four episodes from 8 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET.
Fans might also see James back in Queens again sometime soon, this time with a baseball bat in his hands at Citi Field. He said he hopes to take batting practice with the team as he did at Shea Stadium when he hit a few over the fence.
“I hit a couple,” he said. “I want to see. I want to try. It’s going away from me. As you get older, I got the torn bicep right here, it’s crazy. The shoulder is bad. All the injuries are coming, but I still want to do it. It’s something I want to come back and do it. You can’t take batting practice with them when they’re in the hunt.”
