12/8/2012: Gloucester, MA – In the ongoing series “Getting to Know the Fishermen”, next up is 22-year-old superstar, Manuel “Mayor” Corona.  All answers through a translator.

Q: You recently had your 22^nd birthday.  How did you celebrate?
A: I’m a pretty low-key guy, actually.  I just went to a nice restaurant with some teammates and came home early to watch reruns of the Jersey Shore.

Q: How have you enjoyed your stay in Gloucester so far?
A: I really like two things about Gloucester: the fans and the seafood, but mostly the fans.  It was tough at first, coming from Cuba to Gloucester.  The climate is different.  The food is different, but I’ve learned to love it.

Q: Who is your best friend on the team?
A: Oh, I’d say António Coronado.  He recently asked me to be the godfather of his newborn son, Phillipe.  Even though he’s from the USA, he’s of Cuban descent and we get along very well.  He’s got a pretty fat contract and I’m still working on my rookie contract, so he ends up paying for a lot of things, which I don’t mind at all.  Overall, though, I like my teammates a lot.

Q: You are still on your rookie contract.  Have you been offered an extension?
A: No, not yet.  I don’t want to talk about extensions and everything just yet.  I want to worry about getting better and working hard.  I know I’ll get the money when the time is right.  I’m also focused on winning a couple of championships.

Q: You were struggling a bit in the minor leagues and you changed to the number 1.  Did that make a difference?
A: Surprisingly, it did.  I think I was just homesick at the time.  I was in Narragansett and I was just missing Cuba.  I don’t even know where Narragansett is; couldn’t pick it out on a map.  Overall, I just wasn’t enjoying the game very much.  It was way too much like a job.  My manager at the time tried a lot of things to get my head right, like yoga and acupuncture, but what I needed was a taste of home, to be quite honest.  When I played baseball as a boy, I wore the number 1, and I thought going back to the number would help remind me of why I was there.  It seemed to do the trick.  I’ll keep #1 from now on.

Q: What’s the biggest disappointment of your career so far?
A: I’d say that I didn’t even come close to winning the Wunderkind.  I’m very hard on myself and I was hoping to win every award and championship that there is.  I’ll never have another chance at winning that one.

Q: How did you get the nickname “Mayor”?
A: I figured you’d ask me one soon enough.  Everyone thinks it’s because I’m so popular in my hometown that I could run for Mayor, but that’s not true.  I doubt I could get elected for anything in my hometown after I left it for Gloucester, plus my views on what should be done with the parking meters isn’t very popular, but that’s a different story.  The story is that I tried out for a school play when I was a boy.  I wanted the lead in Robin Hood, but my audition didn’t go very well and I didn’t get the part.  I was so bad that they wouldn’t let me have a speaking part and they decided to make up a part of the Mayor of Sherwood Forest.  I had to sit in the background and wave to the crowd.  My classmates started calling me Mayor from that point on.  At first I hated it since I already had a better nickname that I’d given myself, but I’ve learned to love it.

Q: What was the nickname you had given yourself?
A: “Oatmeal”.

Q: “Oatmeal”?
A: Yeah, “Oatmeal”.  I always liked oatmeal growing up and I thought it was a cool nickname.

Q: Okay, fair enough.  I’m going to answer a series of speed round questions now.  Are you ready?
A: Sure.

Q: Favorite movie?
A: I’m not a big movie watcher, but if I had to say any, I’d say Heat.

Q: Okay, you’re not understanding the concept of speed round.  One or two word answers.
A: Oh. (laughs) I’m sorry.

Q: Favorite TV show?
A: Jersey Shore.

Q: Favorite actor?
A: Leonardo DiCaprio.

Q: Favorite book?
A: Marley and Me.

Q: Favorite food?
A: Cuban, of course!

Q: Favorite band?
A: Green Day.

Q: Favorite color?
A: Red.

Q: Budweiser or Corona?
A: (laughs) Budweiser.

Q: JWOW or Snookie?
A: Snookie.

Q: Favorite WWE wrestler?
A: Oh, I don’t watch wrestling really.  I don’t know.

Q: That’s not one or two words?
A: (laughs) Tony the Tiger?

Q: I don’t think he’s a wrestler, but moving on, favorite video game?
A: Madden Football.

Q: IPhone or Droid?
A: IPhone.

Q: Pepsi or Coke?
A: Pepsi.

Q: Moving on, Godfather or Godfather: Part II?
A: One!  Always number one!

Q: Favorite hobby?
A: Fishing, of course.

Q: Favorite magazine?
A: Elle Décor.

Q: Elle Décor?
A: Yeah.  In a different life, I think I’d be an interior designer.

Q: Really?
A: Yeah.  Are we still doing the rapid-fire questions?

Q: No, I think we’re done with those.  Interior designer?
A: Yeah.  I think I have a good eye and I love where the trends are going to a more vintage style.

Q: Only a couple more to go.  Is there a Mrs. Mayor?
A: (laughs) No, not yet.  It’s hard to find women that you can bring home to mom as a professional baseball player.  I tried match.com, but everyone I went on a date with from there knew who I was.  I’m thinking about trying eharmony.com and wearing a disguise when we meet.  Match.com is for fun; eharmony.com is for marriage.

Q: Have you ever thought of running for Mayor of Gloucester?
A: No, but I’d love to be a spokesman for Quaker Oatmeal.

Q: Last question: Where will you be in five years?
A: Hopefully still in Gloucester with a Mrs. Mayor (laughs) and a couple of rings.

Q: Thank you for your time.
A: Thank you.