When Wilmer Flores broke the fourth wall of baseball earlier this week, the nation stopped and cheered along with long suffering Mets fans. What was so stunning was that it was completely unscripted and no one really knew how it was going to end. I predict this is just the beginning of what I see as the Flores Effect.
I have been a baseball fan for nearly 40 years and I can tell you I have never seen anything like this before. We often see professional athletes as rich businessmen heading to the offices rather than as 23-year-old kids trying to live their dreams.
It was less than two months ago when the fans at Citi Field were booing Flores because he was not living up to their expectation as an everyday shortstop. But on the evening of July 29th with their twitter feeds in a frenzy with trade news, they had a rare opportunity to thank the kid that has been a Met since he was a 16-year-old.
Emotions in sports are not uncommon. We see it when teams win and even when teams lose. What made this special was that there was no MVP, or championship, or no-hitter, just a kid who was overwhelmed with emotions about leaving the only baseball family he had ever had. His sadness touched the hearts of New Yorkers and many people across the country as it was displayed openly in the middle of the field in the middle of the game.
But Met fans like myself felt more than just a little touched. We were proud (and embarrassed at the same time that such a trade snafu would of course happen to us!) that he didn't want to leave. Wilmer Flores wanted to stay with us. He loved us.
As Mets fans we know what it is like to live in the shadow of a big brother. Some younger fans never knew a New York where the Mets were "top of the heap". Today the Mets are primed for success with their young arms, but before last Wednesday there was still something missing (besides a few big bats) -- the acknowledgment that these players want to be here. They want to be Mets -- and that is the Flores Effect.
This sense of pride has already led Zack Wheeler (the other part of the Gomez "non-trade") to call his general manger and ask that he please reconsider trading him. Sandy Alderson, the Mets GM said that it didn't have any bearing on his decision, yet the trade deadline has now passed and Wheeler is still a Met.
Friday night's game was electric for many reasons, including another gem by the Dark Knight, but the fans carried the team through with several standing ovations from Flores' first inning web gem to his bottom of the 12th walk-off homer. Something special is happening.
Get ready Met fans the Flores Effect has been begun and change is coming...