New York Mets Memories: Wilmer Flores and the moment that truly sparked a pennant race

The New York Mets’ season is over and this offseason we will be remembering some of the best moments in recent memory beginning with Wilmer Flores and the walk-off that sparked the 2015 pennant race.

The New York Mets are known for having some of the oddest, but most special players consume the love of the fan base, for example, Wilmer Flores.

Wilmer has always been a gritty player who always played with a lot of emotion, but the night that no Mets will ever forget is his walk-off home run in 2015 vs the Nationals.

For context, the game happened just mere hours after he was supposed to be traded in a package for Carlos Gomez, but instead ended up staying after the trade fell through.

Wilmer was so attached to playing for the team that basically raised him, that he did something that happens so rarely in baseball or sports in general, cried in the middle of a game.

It was a surreal moment that no one expected. For a second, all baseball scenarios went aside and we all got to feel real for a second. Wilmer was not a Mets player on the negative end of a business decision, he was a person who was upset.

Watch the moment below:

However, the baseball stuff that happened after is the real spark to the Mets 2015 season that ended just games away from a World Series title.

On the nights after, the Mets were still trailing the Washington Nationals in the division, but it was close. On September 29 2015, the night Flores was “traded,” the Mets trailed by two games at nights end.

But, what happens next is what truly sparked the pennant run.

Wilmer Flores has been receiving standing ovations ever since that moment, but on July 31, in a game the Mets needed to win to gain the upper hand on the rival Nats, Wilmer Flores did something so special.

In the game two nights after him crying on the field, he put the Mets on his back and hit the walk-off homer to win the game.

Now, at the end of that game, the Mets still trailed the Nationals in the division.

But, let’s look at the timeline of this.

The Mets were coming on strong and later proved they were going to make moves at the deadline anyway.

But, by not landing Carlos Gomez, who would’ve been acquired in the trade package that included Flores, the Mets were able to get someone else instead.

That player was Yoenis Cespedes.

Cespedes then decided to basically put the team on his back the rest of the summer and, as we know, the Mets won the NL East division because of him.

That then allowed Daniel Murphy to do his thing in the playoffs which carried the Mets to the 2015 National League title.

It is easy to point at Cespedes for carrying them there. That is fair, but one to look at it is this way.

The Mets knew they were legit in 2015 because Wilmer’s moment turned the usual frustration and ill-fate into magic.

Wilmer’s home run showed the Mets, and the world, that there was magic in the air at Citi Field once again. It turned the fortunes around after so many seasons of misery.

After that, Cespedes came in and tore it up. He picked up the momentum the Mets gained from that moment and the rest is history.

2015 was such a special season for the Mets. Things just all worked out and were different.

Just look at things now.

For Wilmer Flores in particular, he ended the 2017 season after fouling a ball in his face. In 2018, his season again ended abruptly after learning he has some form of arthritis.

So, Wilmer has had more walk-offs since then, in fact, now the most walk-off RBIs ever for the Mets. But that one in July 2015, means so much more than the other ones.

Wilmer not only had the clutch hits he always has but rather he brought the magic and spark needed to win that came along with it.

I’ll always remember 2015 as the team that won the pennant. I’ll never forget that Yoenis Cespedes put the offense on his back.

But, I’ll never forget who brought the emotion and magic back to the Mets. That was Wilmer Flores.

So, no matter what happens to him beyond this winter, there is a reason that despite the lack of personal accolades and not having that superstar feel, Wilmer Flores will always be an all-time favorite Met.

The Mets needed that moment to realize how good they were then, and could always look back on it to spark them now.