Tim Tebow Ends Baseball Experiment and Retires
Tim Tebow announced his retirement from professional baseball last night. The former Heisman Trophy winner and National Champion joined the Mets system as an outfielder back in 2016. Tebow managed to reach AAA ball in 2019 after not playing baseball since his junior year in high school, which is an amazing accomplishment. Say what you want about Tebow and his baseball skills, but there is no doubt that he gave baseball his all. Let us take a look back at the baseball career of Tim Tebow.
Reception
There were mixed reactions when the Mets first signed Tebow. The Mets themselves saw it purely as a baseball move citing Tebow’s work ethic and athleticism as a reason to take a chance on the then 29 year old outfielder. No matter what the Mets said, some people only saw it as a publicity stunt. Tebow would miss multiple days a week to appear on television which garnered some criticism. The Mets were also able to make money off of Tebow by producing Mets shirsies and inviting him to Spring Training each year. Tebow was scheduled to arrive at Spring Training in a couple days before his announcement last night.
Statistics
Tebow never produced enough to be considered for the Major League club. However, Tebow was no automatic out either. Tebow’s best statistical season came in 2018. He was playing for the Binghamton Mets at the time, the Mets AA affiliate. Double-A is often considered to be the most competitive minor league level. Many of the games top prospects spend the most time in AA and will skip AAA all together on their way the show. Tebow slashed .273/.336/.399 in AA. He also hit 6 home runs and drove in 36 runs in 84 games. I would say that is not bad for someone who hadn’t played competitive baseball since 2005. Tebow finished his minor league career with 18 home runs, slashed .222/.299/.332, and drove in 109 runs over 306 games.
Final Thoughts
The Mets always seemed like they were one or two injuries away from actually having to promote Tebow to the big league club. And back in 2018 or 2019, if it was September and the Mets were completely out of it, I would have been all for it. Nobody ever had anything bad to say about Tim Tebow.
A take, because all the Tim Tebow vitriol was inevitable: the guy was a joy to cover. Interesting, engaging, and more accessible than I ever thought he would be. He's made a big impact in the world and will certainly continue to. So go ahead and hate, but that's the truth of it.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 18, 2021
He will be missed as a member of the Mets community, but he is much better talking about football than he is patrolling the outfield.
-Pete Chatterton (@Pchat12)
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