Tebow retires from baseball after 5 years
Tim Tebow is retiring from baseball after five years as a minor leaguer with the New York Mets.
The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner returned to baseball in 2016 for the first time since his junior year of high school and reached Triple-A, encouraged by then general manager and current team president
Sandy Alderson.
Tebow played 77 games at baseball’s highest minor league level in 2019, batting .163 with four home runs. He finishes his career with a .223 average over 287 games.
“I want to thank the Mets, Alderson, the fans and all my teammates for the chance to be a part of such a great organization,” Tebow said in a statement released by New York on Wednesday. “I loved every minute of the journey, but at this time I feel called in other directions.
“I never want to be partially in on anything. I always want to be 100 percent in on whatever I choose. Thank you again for everyone’s support of this awesome journey in baseball, I’ll always cherish my time.”
A lefty-hitting outfielder, the 33-year-old was invited the major league spring training this season, taking one of New York’s 75 spots after Major
League Baseball limited spring roster sizes as a coronavirus precaution. Position players aren’t slated to report to the
Mets’ spring complex in Port St. Lucie, until next week.
Over four big league spring trainings, Tebow batted .151 in 34 games, connecting for his first and only homer last spring before camps were closed.
Elsewhere: The San
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Diego Padres and shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr.,
22, agreed to terms on a 14-year contract, according to multiple sources. The deal is worth $340 million and is the longest in MLB history . ... Cody Allen, the Cleveland Indians’ career saves leader and an underappreciated closer for the team, has retired at age 32. Allen spent seven seasons with Cleveland, which drafted him in 2010. The right-hander recorded 149 saves and appeared in 456 games — both club relief records.
ETC.
College basketball:
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The men’s basketball game between 18th-ranked Virginia Tech and No. 16 Florida State scheduled for Saturday in Tallahassee, has been postponed, the ACC announced Wednesday, because of ongoing complications within the Hokies program related to the coronavirus pandemic . ... Christyn Williams scored 21 points and Paige Bueckers
added 20 to help women’s No. 1 UConn (17-1, 14-0 Big East) cruise to a 77-32 win over host St. John’s.
Soccer: Mehdi Taremi and Moussa Marega scored for Porto at the start of each half to beat Juventus 2-1 in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League . ... Atletico Madrid was held to a 1-1 draw at Levante in a Spanish league match postponed from the second round, a result that still extended its lead over Real Madrid to six points . ... Manchester City moved 10 points clear in the Premier League as secondhalf goals from Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva
powered Pep Guardiola’s
team to a 3-1 win at Everton.
Kendrick Nunn has gone full circle in 16 months — from a rookie revelation and immediate Heat starter to something of an afterthought during the Heat’s Finals run and again early this season — and now back to starting again.
After being held out of five of the Heat’s first 10 games — and three others in recent weeks — the second-place finisher in last season’s Rookie of the Year voting has now made five consecutive starts, and seven overall, this season, entering Wednesday night’s game at Golden State.
And he couldn’t be happier about it, especially after losing his starting job at the outset of last year’s playoffs.
How does starting help him?
“I bring energy to the game,” he said. “I like to give one of the first punches. When I’m on the court it gives us a spark offensively and defensively.”
Nunn started all 67 regular-season games last season before famously being benched to start the postseason, with Goran Dragic replacing him after Nunn dealt with the effects of contracting COVID-19 last June.
Even when Dragic was injured during the Finals, Tyler Herro — not Nunn — moved into the starting lineup.
Nunn didn’t start his first game this season until Jan. 27, but has started seven of 11 games since. The opportunity to start again was a byproduct of his improved performance off the bench, beginning in mid-January, and injuries and COVIDrelated absences involving other Heat wing players.
Nunn is averaging 14.1 points and shooting 33.3 percent on three-pointers (16 for 48) with 11 steals in his seven starts. Overall, he’s averaging 13.4 points in 19 appearances.
In an interview last week with WFOR CBS4’s Jim Berry, Nunn admitted that reduced role was difficult mentally.
“It’s tough,” he said. “You have doubts about yourself. Your mind just starts racing. You have so many thoughts on why you’re not playing. But you just have to have discipline about it, mental toughness, stay locked in with the game plan, come in and act like you’ve never missed a
beat.”
Nunn said not playing regular minutes “is challenging when you’re just watching from the sideline when you know you can obviously go out there and help win . ... You have to be a professional about it and continue to work and be ready when your number is called. That’s what I did.”
Nunn last week reached his 82nd NBA game (the equivalent of a normal full season) with averages of 14.9 points, 3.1 assists, 44.6 percent shooting and 84.6 percent on free throws. Per stathead.com, only four other players have achieved those numbers in their first 82 career games: Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Kyrie Irving and Steph Curry.
Heat guards Avery Bradley (calf) and Goran Dragic (ankle) remain out; they’re not with the team on this seven-game road trip.
KERR WEIGHS IN
Warriors coach Steve Kerr weighed in on several Heat-related issues in advance of his team’s game against the Heat.
On Bam Adebayo: “Bam is a tremendous player, reminds me a lot of
Draymond Green because he impacts the game so much at both ends as a ball handler, passer but also as shot blocker, defender, switching onto smaller players.”
On whether he can relate to Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, with both coaching teams that went to multiple consecutive Finals before losing a superstar in free agency:
“We have had similar experiences. This is nothing new for him. He went to the Finals four years in a row and a couple times before that they had injuries, won 17, 18 games. If you coach in the NBA long enough you’re going to see a little bit of everything.
“And that’s what I’m experiencing now. To come into the league right away and to coach a team with the talent we had and get to the Finals that first year was really a dream.
Six years later, things were a lot different, and we got wiped out by injuries and had the worst record in the league [in 2019-20]. You have to learn as an NBA coach to roll with everything and figure out your job based on that year’s circumstances.”
Kerr said he keeps in touch with Heat guard Andre Iguodala, who was with the Warriors during all of their five Finals appearances in the past decade, including three championships.
“Andre is one of those guys I will probably keep in touch with forever,” Kerr said. “We connect in the offseason because he’s here. We played golf before the season started, talked a lot about Miami and our team and family.
“I have a really strong bond with Andre. He is forever going to be someone I admire, not just the way he played but the way he taught the game and mentored young teammates. He was an enormous part of the championship era here and we definitely miss him.”
Warriors guard Steph Curry said playing against Iguodala “is going to be fun. I just hope he forgot all the plays. He might be too smart for that. It will be interesting seeing him in a different jersey, competing against him.”
American Heritage had a very good Tuesday.
The Patriots girls’ soccer team won its 4A region quarterfinal, defeating North Broward Prep 2-0.
Savanah Hydes had a goal and an assist, and Romi Witek also scored. Diana Pon added an assist. Keeper Sophia Garcia recorded the shutout. The Patriots field no seniors.
Cardinal Gibbons also won its 4A region quarterfinal Tuesday, beating visiting Jensen Beach 4-0. Sydney Polivka scored twice, and Macy Berg had a goal. Deborah Bien-Aime collected one goal and two assists.
That sets-up the much anticipated showdown between these two very good soccer programs on Friday as Heritage (7-2) travels to Gibbons (8-2-1) in a region semifinal.
The 2020 state runnerup Chiefs beat Heritage in the district finals this season and in last season’s region semifinal.
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
American Heritage beat Okeechobee 57-27 in 5A region semifinal.
Taty Wyche had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Joey Delancey and Sydney Shaw each had 11 points.
The Patriots (22-2) travel to Norland on Friday in a region final. Norland beat Central 58-34. Okeechobee finished 14-3.
MORE GIRLS’ SOCCER
Class 6A Region quarterfinals: Lourdes 9, North Miami 0: The defending state champion Bobcats (9-2-1) are getting into their post-season groove.
Alexa Sanchez had two goals and two assists, and Olivia Izquierdo added two goals and one assist. Samantha Diaz, Coco Aguilar and Tessa Abreu each had a goal and an assist. Sophie Perez and Olivia Borroto also scored, and Jilli Diaz registered two assists.
Lourdes plays Doral Academy on Friday in a region semifinal.
Class 5A Region quarterfinals: Pines Charter 1, TERRA Environmental 0: Francesca Brito scored her 13th goal of the season, which proved to be the winner off an assist by Katelyn Fernandez. Keeper Lyah Guzman recorded the shutout.
In a region semifinal on Friday, the Jaguars (7-4) will travel to Archbishop McCarthy, which beat Westland Hialeah 10-0.
This is another good battle. In the past three post-season games against each other (this season’s district final, last season’s district final and last season’s region semifinal), the Mavericks beat Pines Charter each time in a shootout.
Class 7A Region quarterfinals: Coral Gables 1, South Dade 0 (OT): Sophomore Mariana Gutierrez scored the winner in the
8th minute of the first 10-minute overtime. Senior keeper Chase BagnallKoger posted the shutout.
Coral Gables plays Palmetto Friday in region semifinal.
Class 7A Region quarterfinals: Naples-Gulf
Coast 2, West Broward 1:
Kayla Master scored the lone goal for the Bobcats (7-3-2). It was her 13th goal of the season, and she scored in each game she played this season (eight games).
Cypress Bay, which beat Dr. Krop 7-3, will play Gulf Coast (12-3-4) on Friday in a region semifinal.
WRESTLING
It’s a good thing Dan Jacob teaches math, because the type of numbers he’s recorded in his impressive wrestling coaching career takes some counting.
Jacob, a long-time wrestling coach at Coral Springs High School, has totaled 557 wins, 90 losses and 2 ties to go along with 15 district titles and three regional championships.
He began his coachingcareer with the Colts in the 1988-89 season. Since then, John Moran won a state title, and Eric Albarracin was a state runner-up to name a few.
Albarracin is actually one of the top MMA coaches in the world, and he has been recognized for that. When in town, he visits Coach and talks to the CSHS wrestlers.
Jacob is again at the helm of the Coral Springs High School wrestling program in challenging 2020-21 times, and a familiar face is by his side: long-time assistant coach Henry “Hank” Johnson.
Johnson, an artist, wrestled for Jacob in 1988-89. He returned to coach with Jacob in the 1990-91 season, and the two have been a coaching tandem ever since.
To continue the tradition, Johnson’s son, Raiden, wrestled for Jacob, too. Raiden was a five-time state qualifier with three region titles and a runnerup finish.
Raiden, who went 20020 (with 10 of those losses at state), wrestled as an eighth grader for Coral Springs Charter and graduated from Ascend Academy Charter, competing for the Colts in between.
Jacob, who wrestled for Coach Gary Freis at Fort Myers High School and graduated from Florida State University, is also a former athletic director at CSHS.
This shortened season, because of the pandemic, no dual meets for the
Colts, but they are competing in Class 3A districts at Western on Friday.
BOYS’ LACROSSE
Gulliver Prep 19, Palmetto 9: GP (2-0): Ryan Noyes 6 goals, 1 assist; Tyler Cancio 2 goals, 1 assist; Max Hersowitz 3 takeaways, 6 groundballs; Wyatt Kraft 14 saves. PLM (0-1): Dylan Weinberg 6 goals.