Maybe the New York Mets knew something we didn’t.
Tim Tebow, the former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner who signed a minor league contract with the Mets earlier this month that skeptics wrote off as a publicity stunt, hit an opposite-field home run in his first pitch taken as a professional baseball player on Wednesday on Field 7 at the Tradition Field Complex.
The 29-year-old outfielder, the oldest by four years of the 58 players on the team’s instructional league roster, had experienced mixed results in a pair of simulated intrasquad games this week. He went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts on Monday, before rebounding to go 2-for-3 with a run scored on Tuesday.
But Wednesday’s game against the St Louis Cardinals’ instructional league team marked the first time Tebow faced a pitcher from an opposing team – and he didn’t wait long to make an impact.
The left-handed Tebow drove a high 91mph fastball from Cardinals lefty John Kilichowski over the left-center field wall on his first pitch faced in the first inning, circled the bases and shared a high five with team-mate Wagner Lagrange after crossing home plate before enjoying a rowdy reception at the dugout.
Former NFL star Tim Tebow hits a home run on the first pitch of his first at-bat as a member of the New York Mets instructional league. pic.twitter.com/zFLxhZIuIi
— ABC News (@ABC) September 28, 2016
“I honestly try to (go after) everything pretty hard and try to stay intense. Hopefully, that’s something I can bring to this game and these young kids,” he said after Tuesday’s intrasquad game. “Everything you do, just do it with an intense amount of focus and effort.”
Tebow, who saw regular-season action in three NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos and New York Jets in addition to brief practice-squad stints with the Eagles and Patriots, received a $100,000 bonus to sign with the Mets despite having not played organized baseball since his junior year of high school in 2005.
Since reporting to the three-week instructional league in Port St Lucie, he’s indicated the higher incidence of concussions in football influenced his decision to turn to baseball.
