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Title: Commentary: Tim Tebow's baseball success is no joke
Source:
Orlando Sentinel
URL Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opin ... -david-whitley-0627-story.html
Published: Jun 27, 2018
Author: David Whitley
Post Date: 2018-06-28 11:36:44 by Deckard
Ping List: *Baseball* Subscribe to *Baseball*
Keywords: None
Views: 5272
Comments: 74
Remember all the snickering, guffawing and ridicule over Tim Tebow becoming a baseball player? Guess what, jokers? It seems Tebow is actually becoming a baseball player. “He looks like a different guy than last year,” Hartford manager Warren Schaeffer to the New York Post. That’s the paper that once ran the headline “Headless Body In Topless Bar.” Now critics must be losing their heads over the headline “Tim Tebow suddenly looking like pro baseball player.” Tebow plays for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the Mets’ affiliate in the Class AA Eastern League. The Post surveyed opposing managers to get a gauge on Tebow’s progress. Tebow has not been sensational, but his progress has been impressive. “I saw him last year at (Class A) Columbia. He’s come a really long way,” Schaeffer said. “He’s a tough out right now. We had a really tough time against Tim Tebow. He hits fastballs well. He’s a strong kid. His approach has gotten a lot better.” Tebow was batting .256 with five home runs and 27 RBIs heading into this week. But his OPS (a statistic that measures on-base percentage and slugging average) was .737. That’s 81 points higher than last year, and the statistics keep trending up. Tebow had reached base in 11 of 15 games and batted .315 in that stretch. “We’ve got guys who’ve been playing five, six, seven years not having the success he’s had at Double-A,” Harrisburg manager Matt LeCroy said. “A lot of people probably thought he could not do that and now he’s starting to thrive in Double-A.” A lot of people? The precise number might be everyone on the planet except Tebow. Even his biggest admirers probably feared his baseball excursion would fizzle out in the low minors. Tebow hadn’t played baseball since 2006, his junior year at Nease High School. In between, he helped Florida with two national football championships, won the Heisman Trophy, led the Denver Broncos to the playoffs, built a hospital in the Philippines, became a hero to millions with his Good Guy persona, became an irritant to millions with his Good Guy persona…. On and on it went until he was (choose one) blackballed out the NFL or mercifully released after proving he’d never be a fulltime quality quarterback. Whatever your choice, there’s no debating what baseball experts thought when Tebow showed up at the Arizona Fall League in 2016. “His presence here is a farce, and he looks like an impostor pretending to have talent he does not possess,” ESPN’s baseball insider wrote. “There’s no hope this thing turns around,” Fox Sports wrote. “Scouts - given no choice but to evaluate this out-of-place media member - have been turning in scathing reports about Tebow’s long swing, poor fielding, and bad pitch recognition.” So what do scouts say now? “He is better,” one told the Post. “He has shown the ability to hit the fastball. Not a double-plus fastball, but an average fastball. He has progressed. He still misses a lot of pitches down. The changeup, he doesn’t see at all.’’ So he’s not Mike Trout, but apparently there is more than a little hope he is turning this thing around. “To hold your own after being out of it for however long he had been, you got to give the guy credit,” New Hampshire manager John Schneider said. “Baseball is a hard thing and hitting is a really hard thing. To show improvement and hold his own here in Double-A is pretty impressive.” Those suffering Tebow Derangement Syndrome will next declare him a failure if he doesn’t make it to the Majors. But Tebow never judged success that way. His only goal was to see how good he could be and enjoy the journey. It’s amazing what a tireless work ethic, unwavering faith and not listening to critics can do. “I’m improving, seeing pitches, leaving some bad pitches,” Tebow told the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. “I’m trying to be more direct to the baseball to do more damage with it.” If he keeps improving, the real damage will be to the egos of all those who weren’t just (understandably) skeptical of Tebow’s chances, they were laughing at the thought he’d ever amount to more than baseball joke. Who’s laughing now?
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 60.
#1. To: Deckard (#0)
Good story... LOVE Tim Tebow. I'm hardly alone. My all time favorite afflete. And Top Ten people. The man defines love of fellow man, integrity, willing oneself to be the best you can be. What kind of person wishes him ill-will and failure?
He looks great playing baseball but he really looks like a very athletic NFL player, not your usual baseball player. Baseball players don't have those big vascular arms and heavily muscled upper chest. Tebow really does have his own fan following that is very loyal.
I guess I could post images of Jose Canseco, although that would be pretty gay. Barry Bonds, post steroids, looked like some kind of offensive lineman.
Canseco is another baseballer who breaks the mold. 6'4", 240 lbs? That's really big for baseball.
Not anymore. You probably haven't checked out the updated rosters and sizes of typical MLBers. I've read Bill James MLB Baseball stats and analyses for many years. Great statistical and metric fodder. These days, MLB execs are finding great favor with pitchers who now average NFL-sized baseball players who stand at 6-3 to 6-5, 220-250 lbs is becoming much more the norm. The perception is that even IF they stink, they'll *look* like they'll be good. Even if they are mediocre, they'll stay with them. It's CYA masking incompetent player scouting and skill assessment. On the other hand, MLB Execs will not extend nearly the same patience and respect for guys who are 5-10, 5-11 but whose skills and stats are actually better. This is basically style over substance which also helps quell the complaints of fussy fans AND especially Sports writers' complaints. (BUT...BUT...LOOK AT HIM?? He LOOKS dangerous!!) Fear of baseball writer opinion that targets MLB execs is as insidious as fear of the political ops of liberal MSM. Think of this Size = Excellence presumption as the political equivalent of candidates WITH "good hair" vs. bald candidates/politicians. Examples are rife.
6-4 and 250? You should at least get a 95mph fast ball out of the dude. Problem is does he have control and can he develop other pitches especially strike out pitches (slider, curve, cutter)
Hear ya... I have never understood how any guy/pitcher who 6-2+ with a good arm can't throw 94+ MPH. Never mind 6-4, 250. At that size they shuld easily throw 95+ (and many do.) But yes, IF you're serious about your craft, with command, gotta develop a mastery of at least two OTHER pitches. (all 3 of your above pitches would make a pitcher dominant. FWIW, when I pitched, I'd also come at a batter from all different angles like "El Duque".) Red, Unc, have you guys noticed the LOW BAs of MLB this year? Many team averages are from .225-.240. And for the first time there may be more Ks than hits! It's HR or a Whiff. Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra typically would K less than 25 times PER YEAR! The game has become either an XBH/HR or bust. Last night: TIE GAME. Yankees get the lead off guy on, inning 9. Fast guy at first, fast guy at bat (Brett Gardner, who can bunt, and bunt well). You need just ONE run to win; What did Gardner do? Promptly swings away and raps into a DP. EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A HERO. Baseball's olde school fundamental/situational tactics are dead. Bombers gave away a game an inning later last night when an opposite field 340' HR was dinked into the seats. (but also NOT before loading the bases wit one out and all that was needed was CONTACT. The next two batters K'd on 6 pitches.) Hate to say it -- MLB is dying. NFL is dead. NBA is unwatchable. The NHL is a great game but on Tee-bee the puck is difficult to see. BEST live game to see is an NHL game. Red, IF you get the chance....:-)
I remember Denny Mclain. I don't think he was that tall and drank about 20 sodas (not diet) per day. The guy was in his 20s and looked to be about 50. He already had a beer gut. However, he still won 30 games. He didn't do much after that except go to prison.
Denny McLain. Yeah, I recall him pretty well. Playing ht/wt: 6-1, 185. Junk food AND gambling addict (and "dabbled" in narcotics *I believe*). Hmmm...you made be also remember how McLain was a yuge, famous soda addict, wasn't he?? One after the other. Right -- he aged prematurely, but that was before the 1980s when most everyone did, didn't they? What was called the "Breakfast of Champions"??: Yup -- BEER. (McLain sporting a tractor-tire around his mid-section who-knows-when): However, he still won 30 games. He didn't do much after that except go to prison. For a couple of years, Denny McLain was one of the best pitcher in baseball: 31-4 in '68, 24-7 in '69 (and then it all fell apart. I liked him for feeding Mickey Mantle a gift meatball in 1968, helping Mickey hit HR #533(?) (or another special HR late in his career.)
Yep - The good old days when teams didn't rely on pitch counts. Denny had a rough time in the '68 Series vs The Cardinals - he was 1-2 - Lolich was 3-0. The starter would go out, throw 125-130 pitches, then pitch again in 3 days (didn't they use a three or four man rotation in those days?) In game 7 of the 1991 World Series, former Tiger and 2018 HOF electee Jack Morris pitched 10 innings of shutout ball for the Twins, tossing 126 pitches in the 1-0 win over Atlanta, after only three days rest. I've read that some teams are considering going from a 5 to 6 man rotation.
#62. To: Deckard (#60)
Yeah, let a guy pitch. If he's having trouble, the manager comes out and sternly asks if he is having trouble, and he wants an honest answer. If he is, then see you in a couple of days.
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#2. To: Liberator (#1)
LOVE Tim Tebow. I'm hardly alone.
#12. To: Tooconservative (#2)
Baseball players don't have those big vascular arms and heavily muscled upper chest.
#13. To: no gnu taxes (#12)
#15. To: Tooconservative, redleghunter, CZ82 (#13)
Canseco is another baseballer who breaks the mold. 6'4", 240 lbs? That's really big for baseball.
#17. To: Liberator (#15)
#18. To: redleghunter, CZ82 (#17)
6-4 and 250? You should at least get a 95mph fast ball out of the dude. Problem is does he have control and can he develop other pitches especially strike out pitches (slider, curve, cutter)
#21. To: Liberator (#18)
#24. To: no gnu taxes (#21)
#60. To: Liberator, no gnu taxes (#24)
(Edited)
For a couple of years, Denny McLain was one of the best pitcher in baseball: 31-4 in '68, 24-7 in '69
Replies to Comment # 60.
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