Tebow goes hitless in finale at Fire Frogs
KISSIMMEE — Tebowmania’s brief run through Central Florida did more than introduce minorleague baseball to potential fans.
Packed crowds at Kissimmee’s Osceola County Stadium also made for a distinctive experience for players taking part in a Florida State League fourgame series between Tim Tebow’s St. Lucie Mets and the host Florida Fire Frogs.
“The games become more amplified when a guy like Tim Tebow comes into town because he’s going to bring a crowd wherever he goes,” Fire Frogs relief pitcher Joe Rogers said. “That doesn’t just affect him; that also affects everybody else.”
Tebow went 0-for-2 with a walk and a run scored Monday in front of an announced crowd of 3,815 as the Mets won 3-2 to split the series with Florida.
Tebow finished 2-for-9 with a homer, double and two runs scored in three outings against the Fire Frogs. He sat out Saturday’s game after making 24 straight appearances since joining St. Lucie’s roster on June 26.
The Fire Frogs averaged 4,507 fans in the series after reaching the 1,000 mark in attendance just 11 times in 44 prior home dates.
Rogers, drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the fifth round out of UCF in 2012, compared the atmosphere to some of the crowds he experienced in college.
“There’s a little more adrenaline because there’s more fans in the stands, and it’s a good test for guys because the higher you go up in levels, the more the crowds are going to play a factor,” Rogers said.
Fire Frogs second baseman Alay Lago played in similar surroundings while competing in Cuba and Mexico.
“It feels good to have that support,” Lago said through an interpreter. “As a player you feel like you can perform better in front of a crowd like that because you feel like giving more to entertain the fans.”
The crowd numbers in Kissimmee fall in line with the turnout throughout the FSL since Tebow arrived from South Carolina’s Columbia Fireflies.
“There’s a lot of energy every day of the week, whether it’s a weekend or a week day and no matter the time a game starts,” said Adam MacDonald, director of broadcasting and media relations for the St. Lucie Mets. “I know our players enjoy playing in front of it, and I’m sure the home teams do too. There have been some
The Mets, who typically pull good crowds at home, played in front of the largest away crowd (9,478) in the 30-year history of the franchise July 3 in Fort Myers. The next day an announced crowd of 6,974 showed up for what became the second-highest attended game ever in Port St. Lucie.
And as they proved while signing autographs for eager fans in Kissimmee, Tebow’s new teammates have embraced the added attention.
“They love playing in front of crowds, and now that Tim has been here the adrenaline for the guys has certainly gotten a little bit of boost,” MacDonald said. great atmospheres.”