Bat boy moves over to the Binghamton dugout for Tebow
TRENTON » Before Tuesday’s game, Tim Tebow was lobbying for his new favorite bat boy to do something unprecedented: Take his duties to the visitors’ dugout.
But this was nothing cynical. Tebow recently had a chance to meet Tommy Smith, the Thunder bat boy who has become a team and fan favorite around Arm & Hammer Park.
“He’s awesome,” Tebow said. “I was trying to get him to come over and hang with us and be our bat boy, and for some reason he wouldn’t do it . ... He even said yes and then after a minute he was like, ‘No, I gotta stay.’”
But as it turned out, Tebow’s wish was granted after all.
Wearing a No. 47 Binghamton Rumble Ponies jersey, Smith switched sides and served as the bat boy Tuesday night for the Thunder’s opponent at the request of his new friend.
Tebow, the outfielder who is playing in the Mets’ minor league system after his short NFL career, smiled vibrantly and perked up when talking about Smith.
Smith, 27, was featured by Barnabas Health in 2014 as part of the healthcare provider’s Special Olympics program. He also played for the New Jersey unified softball team at the 2014 USA Games hosted in Mercer County.
“He’s really cool,” Tebow said. “I love it every time he gets a bat and he starts putting his hands up and getting the crowd hype. It brings me a lot of joy to watch that and also watch the crowd react to him.”
Tebow, known for his extensive charity work, is the founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation, whose mission statement is “to bring faith, hope and love to those needing a brighter day in their darkest hour of need.”
Even during the long grind of a minor league baseball season, Tebow finds time behind the scenes to work on projects and fundraisers for various outreaches.
“Thankfully I have a really great team, but you can’t train all day, right?” Tebow said. “You’ve got to have a little balance. I stay involved in that heavily and working on that and everything that we’re doing at the foundation and everything else we’ve got going on.”