Before the Mets reached their first World Series in 15 years, before they swept the Cubs in the NLCS and Daniel Murphy became a postseason legend, Murphy made a toss to Ruben Tejada on Howie Kendrick’s soft liner up the middle behind second base in Game 2 of the NLDS in Los Angeles.
Tejada, with his back to first, took Murphy’s toss and then was blindsided by Chase Utley.
The play left Tejada with a broken right leg and put Wilmer Flores back into the spotlight again.
“You never want anyone to get hurt, especially Ruben, but it happened and then you think, ‘Well, this is your chance now to go show you can do it,’ ” Flores said. “You want to make the most of it.”
For the most part, he has.
Flores has gone 7-for-24 this postseason, good for an OPS of .829, though he has yet to drive in a run.
He will try to change that Tuesday in Kansas City in Game 1 of the World Series — which even he finds hard to fathom.
“If you had told me in February that I was going to play shortstop in the World Series, I would have said, ‘I don’t know about that,’ ” Flores said. “Now I’m here and I’m thankful for everything I went through. Everything happens for a reason and here we are.”
Forget February, there would have been some pretty long odds on Flores playing anywhere in the postseason as recently as the end of July.
But it’s much easier for Flores to put his season in perspective in late October than it would have been at almost any other point of 2015.
Prior to this unexpected postseason run, the most lasting image of the Mets’ season was that of Flores openly crying on the field during a 7-3 loss at home to the Padres when he learned he had been traded — or so he thought.
News leaked while the game was still going that he was to be sent to Milwaukee, with Zack Wheeler, in exchange for center fielder Carlos Gomez.
What Flores didn’t know was the trade was pending physicals. The Mets were eventually scared off by a hip injury to Gomez and the deal fell through.
Two nights later, still a Met, Flores hit a walk-off homer in the 12th inning to beat the Nationals.
“Sometimes I still think about that trade,” said Flores, who stayed in Queens, while the Mets ended up sending a pair of minor leaguers to Detroit in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes. “And I think, ‘Where would I be now if I had been traded?’ If that happened, I’d have gone to play in Milwaukee and then I’d go home and watch the World Series.”
It wasn’t the last time Flores made the most of a second chance.
Prior to Tejada’s injury, Flores had played just one full game since Sept. 19, as Terry Collins opted for Tejada’s defense over Flores’ bat.
But with Tejada out for the postseason, Flores was back on the field and hasn’t left.
“I know Ruben is excited for me and the rest of the team,” Flores said. “He wants to be here. No one wants to miss something like this.”
And Flores isn’t, even if he’s playing a much different role than he anticipated when he once believed his season would be over by now.
“I’m a baseball fan, so I would have watched,” Flores said. “Last year, I watched Kansas City and the Giants. This time, I would have been a little sad if the Mets were here and I was home, but I know I would have had to see it.”
He’ll have a better view from shortstop.