Just when you thought Tim Tebow’s failure to make it as an NFL quarterback would have put an end to a career in professional sports, in comes this report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter:
Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN broadcaster Tim Tebow is actively pursuing a career in professional baseball and plans to hold a workout for Major League Baseball teams later this month, according to his agents Jimmy Sexton and Nick Khan.
For almost the past year, Tebow has been training in Arizona and Los Angeles to hone his play as a professional batter and outfielder in a sport he has not played on a full-time basis since he was in high school in 2005. …
All 30 Major League Baseball teams will be invited to Tebow’s workout at the end of the month, an event he has been preparing for over the past year. Those who have seen Tebow hit have been surprised he picked up the sport so quickly after not playing it since he graduated high school in 2005.
That’s right, Tebow wants to play in the Majors and wants to take a shot at a career the age of 29 (his birthday is later this week). That seems far-fetched, but let’s note that Tebow could have had a chance at a more normal career trajectory in the sport if the Los Angeles Angels would have drafted him in 2005. Former Angels scout Tom Kotchman had this to say to WEEI in 2013:
“We wanted to draft him. €œbut he never sent back his information card. Either it never got to him, or it’€™s Tim Tebow. Who knows if it got to him, and if it did we just never got it back. Otherwise were were going to take him.”
And here’s a scouting report from another former Angels scout, Stephen Hargett, in that same post:
“He had a strong arm and had a lot of power. If he would have been there his senior year he definitely would have had a good chance to be drafted. He had leverage to his swing. He had some natural loft. He had some good power. He was a good athlete. He had had enough arm for that position. He was a left-handed hitter with strength and some size.
“€œHe stood out. Right when you walked up to the field, he passed the body test. He was bigger and stronger than everybody. I think of how big he is, with an average junior or senior in high school being 5-foor-10, 160 pounds. This guy is 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. It was just easy for him. You thought, if this guy dedicated everything to baseball like he did to football how good could he be?”
It all sounds positive, but let’s remember that’s how Tebow was viewed back in the mid-2000s. Now, he’s trying to make it in a sport he hasn’t played since high school over a decade later.
#1: Fred Mertz To: Deckard (#0)
Fred Mertz posted on 2016-08-09 11:36:28 Reply Private Reply
#2: redleghunter To: Deckard, CZ82 (#0)
The Texas Rangers took on 30 yr old Matt Bush. Bush did play coming out of HS in the minor leagues but between alcohol abuse and a prison sentence (almost killing someone while drunk driving), he never made it to the big leagues. After prison and rehab he is now throwing 98-100 mph fast balls out of the Rangers bull pen in the bigs.
redleghunter posted on 2016-08-09 12:32:39 Reply Private Reply
#3: Deckard To: Fred Mertz (#1)
He played a season at Birmingham (AA) in 1994.
3 home runs, 51 RBI, and 30 stolen bases.
Only hit .202 for the season.
Not sure how much time he put in training specifically for baseball - from the looks of it here, Tebow has been training for a year or so.
I hope he makes it - it would be a great story.
Deckard posted on 2016-08-09 12:46:55 Reply Private Reply
#4: Deckard To: redleghunter (#2)
There was also Jim Morris, the pitcher who was portrayed in the movie "The Rookie". he was a teacher and baseball coach who made it to The Show when he was 35.
I think he only played a couple of years.
Tebow is only 29 - I think he has a shot.
Deckard posted on 2016-08-09 12:51:51 Reply Private Reply
#5: redleghunter To: Deckard (#4)
And he keeps himself in tip top shape.
redleghunter posted on 2016-08-09 13:53:47 Reply Private Reply
#6: no gnu taxes To: Deckard (#0)
He needs to find ONE team that is willing to let him try out.
no gnu taxes posted on 2016-08-09 14:36:10 Reply Private Reply
#7: redleghunter To: no gnu taxes (#6)
Why?
redleghunter posted on 2016-08-09 14:41:30 Reply Private Reply
#8: Fred Mertz To: Deckard (#3)
Okay, thanks.
Fred Mertz posted on 2016-08-09 16:23:09 Reply Private Reply
#9: ConservingFreedom To: Deckard (#3)
Ditto! Tebow is the kind of guy one likes to see good things happen to.
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-08-09 16:28:11 Reply Private Reply
#10: no gnu taxes To: redleghunter (#7)
You don't go parading yourself around as the greatest unless you are conducting a media circus.
You go through professional contacts and scouts.
no gnu taxes posted on 2016-08-09 19:46:17 Reply Private Reply
#11: redleghunter To: no gnu taxes (#10)
redleghunter posted on 2016-08-09 22:00:24 Reply Private Reply
#12: no gnu taxes To: redleghunter (#11)
me
no gnu taxes posted on 2016-08-10 02:16:12 Reply Private Reply
#13: redleghunter To: no gnu taxes (#12)
Then I guess you won't be scouting him. Are you a GM of a MLB club?
redleghunter posted on 2016-08-10 11:20:56 Reply Private Reply
#14: Deckard To: redleghunter, no gnu taxes, ConservingFreedom, Fred Mertz (#13)
Some folks who have played professional baseball believe in Tebow's ability. Former Major Leaguer Chad Moeller has been working out with Tebow, and he says "the swing is for real." Former Yankee Gary Sheffield also says Tebow is a "natural,"and that he "absolutely believes" Tebow can play in the big leagues.
The Schaumburg Boomers, an independent team in Illinois that plays in the Midwest-based Frontier League, have offered Tebow a contract already to join their club as an outfielder.
The Birmingham Barons, the minor league team Michael Jordan once played for, have also shown some interest on their Facebook page. But the Barons are an affiliated club - they are the Chicago White Sox's Double-A club - so they don't have quite the same flexibility as the Schaumberg Boomers.
"This may sound like a publicity stunt, but nothing could be further from the truth," said Brodie Van Wagenen, co-head of CAA Baseball, part of the sports agency CAA Sports, said in a statement released to national outlets. "I have seen Tim's workouts, and people inside and outside the industry — scouts, executives, players and fans — will be impressed by his talent."
Tim TEBOW Batting - SLOWMO & Mark McGWIRE split screen
Tim Tebow takes batting practice at Memphis University School with Kyle Finney Pitching. Hit 12 home runs out of 15 pitches.
Deckard posted on 2016-08-10 13:34:21 Reply Private Reply
#15: redleghunter To: Deckard, CZ82 (#14)
It looks like he has kept himself in top physical conditioning.
redleghunter posted on 2016-08-10 13:37:20 Reply Private Reply
#16: no gnu taxes To: redleghunter (#13)
When Tebow gets invited by one team to try out for their AA farm club, get back to me.
I wish him well.
no gnu taxes posted on 2016-08-10 17:35:37 Reply Private Reply
#17: tomder55 To: Deckard, redleghunter (#0)
tomder55 posted on 2016-08-10 19:38:25 Reply Private Reply
#18: redleghunter To: tomder55 (#17)
He should take the invites of the independent league clubs and take it from there.
redleghunter posted on 2016-08-10 22:06:40 Reply Private Reply
#19: tomder55 To: redleghunter (#18)
I'd go watch him play for the Rockland Boulders .
tomder55 posted on 2016-08-14 06:57:04 Reply Private Reply