He has done the Arizona Fall League alongside many actual prospects. He has done (part of) spring training against (some of) the big boys (going four for 17 at the plate). Before that, he last played in high school, over a decade ago. With that resume at their disposal, the New York Mets announced on Monday that the Tim Tebow professional baseball experiment will advance to the minor leagues. Specifically, the club's Class A affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina.pic.twitter.com/XfeRNEO3Pa
— Columbia Fireflies (@ColaFireflies) March 20, 2017
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This graphic makes it seem like Tebow is Peter Pan and Tinkerbell is helping him realize his dream of playing professional baseball. And that's probably the best explanation for this whole thing, which—you might have guessed—is a publicity stunt. That's fine, as long as you ignore the relatively pitiful working conditions for minor leaguers and everything else that's wrong with the Mets' obsession with giving Tebow a chance. Perhaps his presence will boost attendance for the Columbia Fireflies. Good for minor league baseball, and good for baseball at large, not that the players will ever benefit.And who knows? Maybe Tebow will surprise us. Although his time there is not widely remembered that fondly, Spurrier did OK at South Carolina. He won nearly 64 percent of his games, went 5-4 in bowls, and finished in the AP top ten three times. Of course, Spurrier came in with football coaching cred. Tebow has very little baseball cred. Closer to baseball crud.Tim Tebow is coming to Columbia. Read: https://t.co/4A92bKFucV #LetsGlow pic.twitter.com/y8dyabdEb1
— Columbia Fireflies (@ColaFireflies) March 20, 2017