WHAT THE FLOCK!

PORT ST. LUCIE — And on the second day, there was no home run.

Tim Tebow’s second pro baseball game was much less dramatic than a day earlier, when he went yard on the first pitch he saw. But Thursday’s Instructional League game against the Marlins was a more complete glimpse at what Tebow brings after he went 2-for-4 with a couple of runs scored and an RBI.

“I felt good,” Tebow told the Daily News while he signed autographs in the rain after his second pro game.

There were again almost 300 fans in attendance, mostly dressed in Florida Gators blue and orange. They fell silent during his at-bats, hoping to see him do something special. Some arrived at the Mets’ spring training complex three hours before Thursday’s game, including a woman in a wheelchair who got Tebow to take a picture with her.

Katherine DeMarco, 92, is originally from Brooklyn but now lives in Coral Springs. Her granddaughter brought her out this week to get a glimpse of Tebow, who they have been following for years. They’ve seen him speak at church events and draw inspiration from his words.

“I like Tebow. He’s a nice guy,” DeMarco said. “He has everything good about him and that’s what I like.”

DeMarco’s granddaughter, Amanda Bainlardi, 28, has been a Tebow fan since he was a Heisman-winning quarterback at Florida.

“He inspires a lot of people,” she said. “He inspires (my grandmother) at 92 and that’s pretty amazing.”

Tebow has the same impact on most of those in attendance, who follow him around the complex in herds. They mostly cite his religious beliefs as why they’re such big fans. And it’s his devotion to his faith and his work ethic that Mets GM Sandy Alderson cited as something he’d like his young players to be around.

Each summer, Tebow travels to the Philippines to do missionary work.

“When you’re able to go over there and do the work we’re doing and see all the faces of the people whose lives you get to change and hopefully inspire and encourage and care for, that is just so much more important than any swing of any bat will ever be,” Tebow said. “So, as much as I’m someone that loves the grind and working every day, you always got to keep in perspective what’s the most important thing you can do and the best thing that a game or a sport gives you is a platform.

“But if you don’t use that platform, then you’re missing out on the biggest and the greatest piece that sport or game has,” he said. “That’s important to always keep in perspective, what matters the most, and what we get to do over there matters a lot.”

While Colin Kaepernick has been criticized for some for using that same platform, one fan here called Tebow the “anti-Colin Kaepernick.”

“Colin Kaepernick says that America’s all bad, law enforcement is bad and let’s face it, there’s some bad law enforcement, but you can’t paint them with a wide brush like Colin Kaepernick does,” Pat Schrader, a retired Port St. Lucie cop, said. “He takes a knee, which to me, as an Army veteran, is disgraceful as an American. It does offend me. Tim Tebow doesn’t do that. He stands up for the average American.”

The chance to get so close to their idol is unique to the setup of Instructional League ball, where fans can watch games for free and get within inches of Tebow as he plies his craft. While he takes cuts in the on-deck circle, Tebow acknowledges young fans, waves at those pushed to the fence in wheelchairs and waves at little girls dressed by their Tebow-loving parents in Florida cheerleading outfits.

“He’s a person you’d want as a son or dating your daughter,” Schrader said. “He’s what embodies, to me, what is good with America.”

Tebow also walked, hit into a fielder’s choice and struck out looking in his five plate appearances. In left field, where he played four innings, he registered a routine putout on an easy fly ball.

Thursday’s game was another semi-simulated affair with Tebow hitting third in each of the first five innings, no matter where the Mets were in the lineup. One inning of the 4-4 tie had four outs. Tebow even hit once after he was replaced in the field.

Dwight Gooden told TMZ that in his own prime, he would have “eaten him alive.” But Gooden would have eaten any of these AP/EVAN GROSSMAN/DAILY NEWS guys alive in his prime, just as he chewed up most big-league ballplayers in the 1980s.

Tebow will work out with the Mets Friday before leaving to work for ESPN as a college football analyst over the weekend. The Mets have two more instructional games next week, against the Marlins Monday and the Cardinals Thursday, before the club will make a determination if he’ll continue on to the Arizona Fall League for more work.

Tebow said he’s unsure of what the plan will be beyond those games.

The Mets, however, see dollar signs wherever he goes. They were selling Tebow 15 jerseys out front for $100 a pop, which gives this the feel of a publicity stunt. However, as he improves on the field, it seems more and more like signing Tebow may have been more than that. This is not Garth Brooks or Billy Crystal getting a chance to be a baseball player.

“To me, it’s more a high upside, low-risk opportunity,” sports business expert Marc Edelman said. “I could see Tebow playing Single-A ball in Port St. Lucie next year, and energizing a community that probably cares more about Christianity and the Gators than baseball. I don’t think the Tebow signing has much financial relevance to the big league club. But it could put a few more fans in the seats for their Single-A club and perhaps even help the team net a sponsorship from a company like Chick-Fil-A. Frankly, I’m surprised the Jacksonville Jaguars have not signed Tebow. He would have been the perfect fit for their fan base.”

But he’s a Met for now. And the hundreds of people that come here to get a peek at Tebow follow his every move mostly because of everything he does when he’s not on the field.