Tebow experiment a mixed bag
Mets could never find a better ambassador, but stats speak loudly
Tim Tebow did his thing one last time at the Jersey Shore on Tuesday, unlikely ever to return to the area, at least in a baseball uniform.
There’s no doubt he gets it. He has been an incredible ambassador for the New York Mets organization, signing autographs, taking selfies and engaging with teammates and opponents. He’s doing it the right way, as he lugs his own gear and takes the long bus rides with the Class A Columbia ( S. C.) Fireflies, while doing everything he can to make up for lost time against guys who were fresh out of Little League when he was winning the Heisman Trophy.
Some of the numbers surrounding his three- day stay in Lakewood were impressive, to say the least. About 23,000 fans poured through the FirstEnergy Park turnstiles, driving revenue for the Lakewood BlueClaws and energizing an already- solid fan base. He has done it everywhere the Fireflies have traveled this spring.
Had Saturday’s game not been rained out, the Lakewood BlueClaws were anticipating a crowd of more than 10,000 fans, which would have made it the second- highest attendance total in franchise history, behind the 13,003 that showed up to see a team led by Gavin Floyd and Ryan Howard play the final game of the 2002 season.
As for some of the other numbers surrounding Tebow’s visit, not so much.
Like Tebow’s sub-. 240 batting average, five strikeouts and no hits in the series through his first four trips to the plate Tuesday night, hitting into a double play with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the fourth. In the top of the sixth, he got a run home on a groundout to second that the fielder could not handle. He reached on an er- ror, and the Fireflies’ second run came home, with Tebow eventually scoring.
In left field, he looks uncomfortable, absent of the sharp baseball instincts players who have been at it non- stop for the last decade possess. And maybe that’s about right. Tebow always has been a conundrum as an athlete.
He quarterbacked the Denver Broncos to the postseason and won a playoff game.
Except that he simply couldn’t throw the ball well enough, and the Broncos turned to Peyton Manning to win a Super Bowl, with Tebow’s pro football career eventually flaming out.
Now Tebow is a soon- to- be 30- yearold trying to make it to the big leagues. And, given what we’ve seen so far, it’s highly unlikely he’ll ever earn his way into a game at Citi Field.
So while it’s already something of a circus, with a first- year prospect emerging as the biggest story in minor league baseball, here’s to hoping the Mets don’t take advantage of the situation.
Sure, you have to push the issue and find out if Tebow is ever going to progress through the farm system. But he deserves better than to be marched through the ranks trying to sell tickets and make up for the failings at the major league level.
The Mets were the ones who decided to take a chance, and the public relations aspect to all this played a role in it. Tebow has clearly held up his end, assimi- lating to a lifestyle far removed from the one he had grown accustomed to, while doing everything the organization could have asked of him and more.
It’s hard not to root for him to succeed. It would be an inspiring, uplifting story to see an athlete who fell from favor in one sport return to the highest level in another. It’s a Disney movie, for sure.
But if it doesn’t work out, Tebow shouldn’t be reduced to a carnival sideshow. Just send him back to the broadcast booth and thank him for his hard work. Because he’s certainly going to thank you for giving him a chance.