Haliey Welch, otherwise known as the viral “Hawk Tuah girl,” expressed a desire to host former New York Mets pitcher R. A. Dickey on her podcast – and no, it’s not because of any sexual innuendos related to his name.

Back in August, Welch – who rose to social media fame earlier this year with her NSFW advice in the bedroom – was invited by the Mets to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Citi Field ahead of their game against the Oakland Athletics. On the heels of her appearance at the ballpark, which ended up drawing the ire of several pundits and critics, the 22-year-old adopted New York as her favorite MLB team.

“Throwing out the first pitch was such a hoot that it made me root for them,” Welch exclusively told Mirror Sports U.S. over email. “Even though it became a —- show, I appreciated that the Mets gave me an opportunity like that.

“On this playoff run, I’ve been following very close. No joke, when I’ve been traveling, as soon as I get to my hotel room, I turn the TV on and the Mets come back or hit a home run. It happened 3 times last [week] alone.”

Though Welch has yet to interview any baseball players on her podcast that’s fittingly named “Talk Tuah” and boasts 162,000 YouTube subscribers, she didn’t rule out potentially interviewing an ex-Met in the future. The Belfast, Tennessee native named Dickey as a dream guest, largely due to his connection to her home state.

“The only Met from Tennessee that I know of is R.A. Dickey. He won a big pitching award for them and went to University of Tennessee and grew up in Nashville,” she said. “He may have some funny things to say and can relate to my world being from here.”

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R. A. Dickey played three seasons with the New York Mets from 2010-2012

R. A. Dickey played three seasons with the New York Mets from 2010-2012 

Image:

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Over 94 appearances for the Mets from 2010-2012, Dickey boasted a 39-28 record with a 2.95 ERA and 468 strikeouts. The knuckleballer turned in the best performance of his 15-season career while playing for New York in 2012, during which he led the National League with 230 strikeouts and won the NL Cy Young award.

After officially retiring from baseball in 2018, Dickey was inducted into the University of Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame one year later. Then in 2022, he was awarded a spot in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

Welch herself has kept close ties to Tennessee, and plans on attending her first Tennessee football game on Saturday when the No. 11 seed Volunteers face off against No. 7 Alabama at Neyland Stadium. But the viral internet sensation has also taken a liking to New York City after visiting the Big Apple a handful of times.

“I definitely can’t live there but you know coming from a town of 788 people, we don’t have a Chinatown or Little Italy,” she said. “And I’m an eater.”