by: Steve Tichenor
It looks like Tim Tebow’s Jersey baseball debut Saturday will be spoiled by rain. Which means a huge crowd will have their plans washed out. Wait, this is minor league baseball, huge crowd?
Yeah! Tim Tebow has been a cash machine for the Columbia Fireflies and the rest of the folks in A ball, drawing huge numbers wherever he goes No surprise there, the guy’s a star. He won the Heisman , a national championship, played 3 years in the NFL and has an overload of charisma. What is a surprise is the guy is actually playing pretty damn good baseball. Okay, he’s only batting 250 with 2 HR’s but be honest, nobody expected a knock every fourth time to the plate from a 30 year old guy 10 years removed from the game. But have a look at his numbers in the last 16 games. Tebow is batting .327 with 4 doubles, 1 triple and 6 walks. In that span he is averaging one strikeout per game so he’s putting the bat on the ball for the most part.
It’s gone so well as of late that the New York Post reports that he may be moved to AA after the all star break. Whoa! Let’s slow down with that one. The Mets organization could be getting a little ahead of themselves. But so far it’s been worth following and it has surprised plenty of experts out there. We know what they’re saying, it’s early. True, but his drawing power and his recent surge at the plate have become a compelling story. It’s a four game series with the BluClaws through Tuesday, so once the sky clears over Lakewood, I’ll be one of the many going out to catch the show.
Photos: Charlotte Observer, Mlb.com