Mets manager Terry Collins lives by late dad’s advice

Terry Collins Photo: Paul J. BereswillSure, he was “a little guy,” in Terry Collins’ own words, but he could play some ball. Well enough that, as a Midland High School student, he committed to play for a men’s summer league team.

During the days while school was out, he worked a blue-collar job for Dow Chemical, the small Michigan town’s flagship company that also employed his father, Loren “Bud” Collins.

“I worked on a railroad. We laid track,” Terry Collins recalled Thursday, as the Mets prepared to play the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. “I got home from the job one day, and I was just exhausted.

“The phone rang, it was the coach: ‘We’ve got a makeup game tonight.’ I told my dad, ‘Man, I don’t…