Tebow pursues baseball dream
The New York Mets were playing the Houston Astros on Monday, but instead of being at First Data Field with the rest of theMets executives, chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon was on the back minor league fields, watching a nonprospect in his first spring training camp.
Mets center fielder Curtis Granderson is a three- time AllStar who has appeared in 51 postseason games, but his $ 28 T- shirt has been replaced in the Mets outdoor gift shop by that of a 29year- old who has never played in a true minor league game.
The Mets starting lineup featured six regulars, including Yoenis Cespedes and David Wright, but about 60 fans, a dozen reporters and seven camera crews never set foot inside the stadium, instead watching a formerHeisman Trophy winner hit nine homers in batting practice on Field 5.
Tim Tebow, idolized by Florida Gators football fans, admired for his outspoken Christian faith and revered for his philanthropy, is considered either baseball’s finest role model or baseball’s biggest carnival act.
He just might be baseball’s most polarizing figure.
“I’m not going to worry about what everyone’s writing or what everyone’s thinking or however I’m being marketed,” Tebow says. “I just want to be able to continue the process, enjoy the process, enjoy every day, get to know my teammates and have fun out there.”
Oh, yeah, and be the subject of the debates about whether the Mets really believe he has a legitimate chance of becoming a baseball player or is nothing more than amarketing gimmick.
“I love baseball. Baseball deserves better,” tweeted former All- Star outfielder Preston Wilson, the nephew of former Mets star Mookie Wilson. “I have friends who got released at 25 who dedicated themselves fully.”
He preceded the tweet with another directed to my attention: “Stop making him news. He is 30.”
Well, technically Tebow won’t be 30 until August, but no reason to nitpick. his last full season in baseball was his junior year in high school, before leading Florida to two national championships. The Mets signed him to a $ 100,000 minor league contract last fall, and after going to the instructional league, he hit .194 in 19 Arizona Fall League Games, striking out 20 times in 62 at- bats.
“Obviously, I knew it’s a big challenge,” Tebow said. “You’re picking up a sport after 12 years of not playing it, but I understood it. I think part of the challenge in it being so hard is part of why it’s something I’m enjoying and loving.
“Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things in sports, but I’m enjoying it very much.”
Realistically, Tebow has no shot to make the big leagues. He might even be fortunate to make it past the low minor league lev-