Tebow remains a hit with fans but not with the bat
Ex-football player continues quest despite doubts and distractions
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Spring training encourages reclamation and vanity projects. Pitchers return from major surgeries. Fielders convert to unfamiliar positions. Aging hitters hack it as invitees. Celebrities like Billy Crystal, Garth Brooks, Kevin Costner, Tom Selleck and Will Ferrell turn the batter’s box into center stage.
Tim Tebow is the latest ballplayer put on a pedestal.
The former college championship and NFL playoff winning quarterback neglected baseball for 12 years after his final high school at-bat, but the New York Mets gave him reason to think that, heck, for $100,000, at 29 years old, with unassailable character, why not give pro sports another try?
So what if he hit .194 against top prospects in the Arizona Fall League? Batting average does not measure Tebow. Tangibles never have.
Tebow went hitless in his spring training debut Wednesday. When he grounded into a double play that drove in a run, the home crowd of 6,538 rewarded him with a standing ovation.
The effusive response poured into his Friday start in a split-squad game against the Astros, who won 7-6. Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey, a former ace on the mend and still a hero for the franchise, was the only player to rival Tebow for loudest cheers at First Data Field.
Hitless vs. Astros
Tebow, who is lefthanded, batted eighth and went 0-for-4. Although he struck out swinging in his last at-bat, he made solid contact three times prior: a hard chopper to first, a ball lined to third that required Colin Moran to dive and a hard groundout to short.
“The odds are stacked against him for a lot of reasons,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.
Hinch emphasized the 12 years that Tebow could have used to develop. He posited that usually players in spring training were the best on every team, from Little League through the minors.
“The competition is thick. The bottleneck is really thin as to who can actually survive the grind of a traditional career path, let alone someone who takes some time off.”
The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner is remembered for his gridiron heroics: his crunch-time jump pass to seal his second national title for the University of Florida in 2008 and his overtime underdog playoff victory for the Denver Broncos in 2012. In baseball, he has looked as under-qualified as his résumé suggests.
Boston Red Sox starter Rick Porcello on Wednesday and Astros starter Joe Musgrove used the same basic approach against Tebow.
“I wanted to see if he could hit a fastball,” Musgrove said.
Musgrove joked that were he responsible for Tebow’s first hit, he would have been on the highlight reel.
‘National attention’
That kind of amusement epitomizes Tebow’s tangle: He is caught up in a spectacle that distracts from his earnest efforts.
“It’s certainly garnered a lot of national attention,” Hinch said.
Some of it unconventional. On Feb. 26, a 36-year-old woman was arrested for trespassing at the Mets’ spring training complex after telling officers she was in a “romantic” and “matrimonial” relationship with Tebow, according to a police report obtained by TCPalm.com. An officer noticed a sticker on the back of the woman’s driver’s license that stated “I (heart symbol) Jesus/ Tim Tebow.”
“The threat is if for some reason the show becomes greater than the desire,” Hinch said. “From all accounts, he has a burning desire to do it.”
Mets manager Terry Collins pointed out the tape around Tebow’s hands. He earned blisters from swinging.
Tebow peppered Jay Bruce, another left-handed 29-year-old outfielder for the Mets, with questions and analyzed every pitch from the Astros for five innings on Friday. Bruce has discussed with Tebow the techniques for adjusting to pitchers in the dreaded lefty-versus-lefty matchups.
“He can’t apply that in one at-bat, obviously,” Bruce said. “No one can. I’m 10 years into this and I’m still always working on it.
“He wants to do the right thing. But what I’ve come to learn in this game is when you try so hard to make things happen, they don’t.”
That approach has served Tebow well for the most part. His devout faith, extensive charity and indomitable positivity draw parents and children to see him play, no matter his line in the box score.
“If my kid’s going to be watching athletes, I’d rather have somebody who has morals and gives back and does the things Tebow does than all the other crazy nonsense that’s out there,” said Michelle Hammel, from Medford, N.J.
She bought scalped tickets for her family so her son J.J. could see Tebow.
Before the game, J.J., a skinny 15-year-old with braces and thick-framed glasses, leaned over the railing beside the Mets’ dugout and dangled a photograph of Tebow dressed in a Mets uniform that he wanted autographed.
“I have Tebow’s rookie card from college and his NFL rookie card,” J.J. said, pronouncing his r’s like w’s.
He acknowledged Tebow’s biggest challenge. “Learning how to hit.” Near J.J., Clayton McMichael, wearing a University of Florida Gators hat and Tebow football jersey, patiently waited behind the railing with a pen and a baseball. At 9 years old, the boy captured the reverence for Tebow in and out of sports.
“Because he’s a good person,” Clayton said. “He doesn’t think it’s all about him.”
‘Bigger than a game’
Tebow, to the annoyance of his critics and awe of his admirers, reinforced that reputation in his postgame news conference.
“You want to be able to have your life be bigger than a game,” he said. “Being able to encourage and inspire and put a smile on someone’s face, I think that’s a big part of it.
“You can’t do it all the time and see every fan. It’s not realistic. But you can try to make someone’s day, every day, and that’s something that I look forward to.”
Minutes after the Mets lost, Tebow walked to the railing beside the dugout. He had not given any autographs before the game.
A cluster of young fans chirped with excitement as he neared.
With reporters waiting at the news conference, Tebow had time for five or so kids.
The last fan to get Tebow’s signature considered himself the luckiest. He had waited earlier to no avail and wiggled his way back to the railing. In addition to boasting Tebow’s rookie cards, J.J. now gets to show off the signed photo of a football legend dressed for a baseball audition.