TEBOW TAKEOVER!
Standing room only crowd comes out to see charismatic star play against Thunder (and Cespedes, too)
TRENTON » Tim Tebow was almost incredulous when he learned Friday afternoon that the Thunder have been selling Binghamton Rumble Ponies jerseys with his name on the back.
“Is that something that the Yankees are allowed to do?” Tebow joked in front of the visitors dugout at Arm & Hammer Park, shortly after his team rolled into town for a three-game series. “I’m just kidding. I guess that’s cool.”
Over the years, the stadium has hosted its share of celebrities and star Yankees on rehab assignments. But it’s safe to say Trenton has never witnessed an athlete quite like Tebow.
The former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback is in his second season playing minor league baseball for the Mets, and a new city brought another sell-out crowd of fans.
A polarizing figure in the sports landscape, Tebow has also gained notoriety over the years for his charitable work and helping children through the Tim Tebow Foundation.
“My goal has always been to transcend whatever I do. Never make it just about baseball or football, but always when you get an opportunity for it to be something bigger than that,” Tebow said. “Because if all you do is play in the outfield and strike out or hit home runs or whatever it is, at the end of the day it’s kind of empty. But if you can take something, a sport you love to do and transcend it to something bigger ... then you’re doing something that’s just a little bit more important than swinging a baseball bat.”
Tebow, who turns 31 in August, is striving to become only the 69th athlete in history to play in both the big leagues and the NFL, according to Baseball Almanac.
Only seven have done so since 1970. The most recent was Drew Henson, who appeared in eight games for the Yankees from 2002-03 before retiring and playing five years in the NFL.
After spending a year in Single-A, Tebow was promoted to Double-A in March. He hasn’t been especially impressive, batting .244 with four home runs, 21 RBI and 70 strikeouts in 50 games entering the series.
Mets GM Sandy Alderson told reporters in February
that he believed Tebow would in the majors at some point, but naturally, the outfielder’s trajectory is different from that of a younger minor leaguer.
“I’ve got to speed up the clock,” Tebow said. “You’ve got to go, you’ve got to learn, you’ve got to adjust. So I think it’s a little bit different as far as that ... but still try to handle myself like one of the guys, too.
“For me it’s not necessarily a sense of pressure because of my age. I think it’s just, I want to be able to push myself as hard as I can. I think that’s also just my mentality in anything I’ve ever done.”
While he jokes that he won’t remember the long bus rides of minor-league life, Tebow calls his new adventure a surreal experience. He hit a home run in his first-ever at-bat with the Columbia Fireflies last year, then did the same with the Rumble Ponies on April 6.
Playing mostly with teammates in their earlyto-mid 20s, Tebow says it makes for fun relationships.
“In certain areas it’s different, but I think it’s been really good,” Tebow said. “A lot of those guys have played a lot more baseball
than I have, but at the same time I’ve played a lot more sports than they have.
“I try to help them deal with the praise or the criticism and kind of help coach ‘em through it a little bit and support ‘em. Because I’ve been in a lot of those situations where there’s a lot of scrutiny, and I can help them understand this isn’t the end of the world. Then I think I’ve taken a lot of different baseball tips and skills and knowledge and approaches from a lot of the guys I’ve played with as well. So I think that’s a really good dynamic.”
Asked for a scouting report on himself, Tebow simply said, “I’m a work in progress, but I feel like I’m improving every day.”
Tebow says he won’t put a timetable on his ambitions to play Major League Baseball before hanging up the cleats.
“It’s something that was on my heart, something that I’m passionate about,” he said. “I love this adventure and the journey so far, and the high and the lows of it. What it’s taught me about life is that I think it’s worth pursuing what’s in your heart and things you’re passionate about.”