tim tebow is back, gracing the front page of seemingly every sports website in the country. The failed football player has not given up on his baseball dreams yet, still a member of the New York Mets organization. On Monday afternoon, he made his triumphant debut at spring training, albeit in Minor League camp, instead of with the major league players.
Announcing his arrival
It's not everyday that a minor league player with no major league experience draws all of the attention for an organization. That was the case when Tebow arrived on Monday, though.
He held a 15-minute press conference, an unusual move for a player on a major league roster, let alone somebody of Tebow's baseball stature.
The biggest shocker may have been his performance in the batting cage, though. Initial reports claimed that Tebow hit four home runs during a brief span of pitches in batting practice, including slicing some to the opposite side of the field. A later report from ESPN suggested he hit nine home runs in just four batting practice rounds. Sure, it is only batting practice, but that's an impressive display for someone many believe has no chance to ever make it out of the minor league.
A baseball future
When Tebow decided to give baseball a shot this past summer, many media outlets and even baseball players/executives looked at him as an attention-seeking joke.
How was a player who hadn't touched a bat since high school going to play professional baseball? At times during his initial foray after signing with the Mets, the critics were proven correct.
After smacking the first pitch he saw in professional baseball over the fence, Tebow struggled. He has shown fits of power, but hit just .194 during the Arizona Fall League while accumulating 20 strikeouts.
Most of the attention devoted to his baseball career has focused on the time his younger teammate dressed up as him for Halloween, or the time he comforted a fan who had a seizure waiting for his autograph. There's no telling if minor league camp will put him on the right track, but it will surely be covered more than any other minor league storyline this spring.
