If there’s one thing that Tim Tebow excels at it’s making a grand entrance when the spotlight is on him.
The New York Mets prospect, if we can even call him one, homered in his first ever minor league at bat back in April after being sent down to the Columbia Fireflies following the conclusion of spring training.
After batting a dreadful .220 with the New York Mets’ Single-A affiliate, the former Heisman Trophy winner “earned” himself a promotion to the Mets High-A affiliate, the St. Lucie Mets, on June 25th.
Now, it’s quite obvious that this was purely a PR and promotional stunt, because striking out 69 times in 214 at-bats as a 29-year-old isn’t quite worthy of being promoted.
Tebow’s time with St. Lucie had to wait a few days before he was able to suit up with his new squad. After a rainout on Tuesday, St. Lucie played in a double-header on Wednesday against the Palm Beach Cardinals. In the first game, Tebow recorded a hit as the designated hitter. In Game 2, Tebow started in left field and in the third inning he clubbed a two-run dinger to left-centre off a 92 mph fastball.
With that home run, Tebow surpassed Michael Jordan all-time in minor-league dingers, who cranked three back in 1994 with the Birmingham Barons, the Chicago White Sox’s Double-A affiliate.
The former Florida Gator finished the game 3-for-5 with a walk, two singles, two RBIs, and a run scored.
Baseball isn’t easy by any means, and given Tebow was constantly mocked after being given an opportunity to play the sport professionally a decade after his last meaningful game, let’s give Tim some credit here. Ever since he made the transition from NFL quarterback, the sports world has roasted him at any given chance.
From being fanned by Max Scherzer in spring training on a three-pitch strikeout, to making one of the ugliest catches to lock down a win and launching his bat into the bleachers after a brutal swing, the 29-year-old has become a laughing stock in the sports community at his own expense.
But it wouldn’t be fair to only highlight the negatives, and we’ll never be able to take this away from him. At least he’ll always be able to brag that he hit more home runs than the best basketball player to ever live.
Good for you, Tim.
