Mets third baseman Wilmer Flores fields some questions from Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: The night you cried at shortstop — July 29, 2015, when you thought you had been traded — how did that change your life?
A: I don’t know if it changed my life. … It definitely changed the way fans look at me. We gotta be tough out there, and fans don’t see that part of us, like the human part. If you trade any of us, I bet it’ll be sad too, because we got a good group, and we all get along.
Q: What were you thinking on the field that made you cry?
A: I had to start over again.
Q: How out of character was that for you?
A: I don’t think that was so out of character for me, I just think there’s a lot of stuff about me people don’t know.
Q: Like what?
A: They’ll never know (laugh).
Q: What would you tell Little Leaguers about being afraid to cry?
A: I don’t think nobody’s afraid to cry. … It just happens. You can’t control it. You think I want to cry out there when [they] have like 150 cameras on me (smile)?
Q: As a boy, tell me about one time you remember crying over something.
A: I was out with my family, and I wanted my dad to buy me something real expensive, and I really wanted it, and he said no, he just said no, ’cause you don’t always get what you want. So I cried a lot for that.
Q: What did you want?
A: I just don’t remember, it was something for baseball. … I think it was a bag.
Q: How old were you?
A: Probably 8, or 7.
Q: The fans had given you a hint there was a trade when you were in the on-deck circle.
A: They were yelling “good luck,” and I figured that I was getting traded. When I went to bat, they started clapping, so that’s when I kind of knew.
Q: What were you thinking at the plate?
A: I was confused, and I was trying to hit the ball (laugh).
Q: Then you grounded to short and the fans gave you another standing ovation. What did your teammates say to you in the dugout?
A: They were confused, too. They didn’t really know. And then David Wright came to me and talked to me. He said, “You don’t have to be upset, because that means that they [Brewers] want you, they want you to play.” And then I played another inning, and that was it.
Q: What did you tell him when he told you that?
A: Nothing. I was just listening to him.
Q: Have you had a good cry since then?
A: No (smile). I tell everybody that I wasn’t crying. They don’t believe me (laugh).
Q: You received four standing ovations two days later when you hit a walk-off home run to beat the Nationals. What was it like being loved that by New York City?
A: It was cool. It still is.
Q: The walk-off home run in the 12th inning.
A: It was a 1-1 count, [Felipe Rivero] threw a fastball in, I wasn’t really looking for a homer. That’s when the home runs come. I didn’t think it was gone. Thought it was a double for sure. But it just kept carrying.
Q: So you don’t think that experience changes your life other than how Mets fans view you?
A: It kind of did. … We all love playing here, and they kind of know that we want to be here, and we want to play for them.
Q: Why do you want to be here so badly?
A: I mean, you never want to be traded. If you ask any guy, you never want to be traded. You just want to stay in one place.
Q: What is special about New York?
A: This was the team that gave me the opportunity to play, and you appreciate that.
Q: Do you think Mets fans will cry if you had to go somewhere else?
A: (Laugh) I don’t know.
Q: July 3 is the one-year anniversary of your 6-for-6 game against the Cubs.
A: Lester started that game. My first at-bat, he threw a cutter away, and I swung at the first pitch. It was a homer. My second at-bat, it was his last pitch that day.
Q: Single?
A: Single.
Q: OK, that’s two.
A: Third one was a righty, I don’t remember who it was [Spencer Patton]. Single. Fourth at bat was a homer off [Patton].
Q: That’s four.
A: Fifth at-bat … I don’t know (laugh) [single to left in the sixth of Joey Peralta]. I know the sixth at-bat was against [Miguel] Montero, the catcher. Single.
Q: Edgardo Alfonzo was the only other Met to do that. He has been helpful to you over the years.
A: We always talk baseball. Whatever happens in a game, he texts me or I call him. Actually after that game he said, “I hit three homers. You only hit two.”
Q: What kind of chance do you think Tim Tebow has in the Mets’ farm system?
A: I mean, if you have a bat in your hands, you have a chance.
Q: What are your thoughts on David Wright trying to come back?
A: We’ve seen him, when he gets hurt, and then he works hard to come back and when he comes back, he changes everything when he’s out there. We’re a different team, you know? Definitely better.
Q: Describe the moment Bartolo Colon hit his first major league home run last May while with the Mets.
A: What I remember it’s after he hit the home run he got to the dugout, he was so nervous he was shaking.
Q: Why was he nervous?
A: I don’t know. I asked myself the same question.
Q: How would you feel about him coming back?
A: It would be a lot of fun. We all miss Bartolo. … He’s a great pitcher, and whenever he’s on the mound, it seems like everything’s fun. The game is fun when he’s out there.
Q: The June 1 incident with the Brewers batboy.
A: He had no intention. He tried to avoid the catcher, but he didn’t see me coming, so he went the wrong way.
Q: Did he say anything to you?
A: He said he was sorry. I said, “You don’t have to be sorry. We all know you don’t want to do that.”
Q: He said that on the field to you?
A: Right at that moment? No? That was the next day. We were out there during batting practice.
Q: You won your arbitration meeting in the spring with the Mets. What was that like?
A: I knew what to expect, because every guy that went through arbitration, they told me what they went through.
Q: So you didn’t take anything personally?
A: No. everything they said, they were right. Everything they said, I knew it.
Q: They must have said negative stuff, right?
A: Exactly. But they were true.
Q: I’d be ticked off if somebody started taking negative about me.
A: I know, but I mean, they didn’t lie. They just said it to your face, that’s it.
Q: Michael Conforto in the All-Star Game?
A: He deserves it.
Q: Describe Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.
A: He’s a good hitter. … He’s big.
Q: Who is one pitcher in baseball history you would want to test yourself against?
A: I don’t know. Tough one … Randy Johnson.
Q: Why him?
A: He’s really tall, and I’ll bet it was really tough to hit him, because he used to throw hard, the ball will get on you real quick, so you have to be ready. He had a nasty slider, so it would be a challenge.
Q: One hitter in baseball history to talk hitting with?
A: Barry Bonds.
Q: Why him?
A: I was just looking at his numbers the other day … ridiculous numbers. Kind of would have asked him what his approach was.
Q: Who are athletes in other sports you admire?
A: [Brazilian soccer star] Ronaldo, LeBron James, just because I feel like he can play any sport.
Q: Think he would be a good baseball player?
A: I don’t know if he can hit, but I know he will throw and catch the ball.
Q: What did you tell Yasiel Puig when he homered?
A: I told him to run the base.
Q: What did he say to you?
A: He said, “F—k you.”
Q: What was your reaction?
A: He was gone.
Q: What offended you so much? Why did you say that to him?
A: He walked halfway to first base. I didn’t like that.
Q: How frustrating was it sitting in the dugout injured during the wild card loss to the Giants last season?
A: It was tough. Not only that game, but since I got hurt (wrist), it was almost a month, I had to watch every game without being able to play.
Q: What do you like about New York, living in Long Island City.
A: The great view [of Manhattan] that I have. Whenever you want you get food at night, everything’s open.
Q: Do you drive to the ballpark?
A: Yes.
Q: Are you OK with the traffic?
A: No.
Q: You hate the traffic.
A: Yes.
Q: Do you honk your horn?
A: You kind of get used to it because it’s the same every day.
Q: Favorite restaurant?
A: Tao.
Q: What’s it like being single in New York?
A: It’s OK. I don’t have time for much. I don’t know, man, I just go to my apartment and go to the ballpark.
Q: What a boring life you lead.
A: I know.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: Not really.
Q: What got you started watching every “Friends” episode?
A: I just started watching one day, and I kind of liked it, and I got addicted (laugh).
Q: What was it like playing in this city in the 2015 World Series against the Royals?
A: It was really cool. I wish it was more games. Everything was so quick that I feel we didn’t have time to enjoy it. First pitch, they were standing up. … It was fun.
Q: You made the last out of Game 5. You struck out looking against Wade Davis.
A: I just put my head down and went to the dugout.
Q: Did you watch them celebrate?
A: No.
Q: Do you think you’ll ever get back to a World Series?
A: Yes.
Q: When?
A: Soon.
Q: Is there still hope this year?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you think this team can get hot?
A: Yes.
Q: Even with everybody hurt?
A: We’ve done it. We have everything we need.