Tag Archives: New York Mets

Tebow can play hardball, too!

Call me surprised … in a most pleasant way.

Tim Tebow, the one-time standout college football quarterback who didn’t cut it as a pro, has turned to baseball.

I once thought the Heisman Trophy winner’s stint with the New York Mets organization was little more than a publicity stunt.

You may dip me in sesame seeds. It turns out Tebow is starting to get the hang of the game he didn’t play seriously since high school. Tebow is learning how to hit pro baseball pitching while playing for the Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies. He started out abysmally, but has gone 9 for 20 of late, raising his batting average to a respectable .246.

Tebow’s status as a bit of a cult figure goes a good bit beyond his athletic prowess. He is known as an devout Christian who introduced a new verb to the English language: Tebowing. It’s meant to describe the kneeling pose Tebow would use whenever he scored a touchdown. Tebow would kneel while saying a brief prayer of thanks to God.

Yes, I was skeptical about his baseball adventure. I feared the Mets had denied another more deserving young man a shot at making it in the big leagues by giving a high-profile celebrity-athlete a chance to play some hardball.

Tebow gave up football after being unable to make the grade with a number of National Football League teams. He fell victim to the curse that occasionally hits Heisman Trophy-winning athletes, those who are unable to lift their game to a competitive level in the pros even after excelling at the college level.

Baseball, though, is providing him with another opportunity.

I wish the young man well and hope he continues to improve.

Why hassle a guy for paternity leave?

Someone will have to explain why a professional baseball player is getting grief because he wanted to be present for the birth of his child.

New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy has been pounded by radio talk show hosts and, presumably, some fans because he chose to be with his family rather than playing a couple of early-season baseball games.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/10721495/daniel-murphy-new-york-mets-deflects-criticism-taking-paternity-leave

This criticism bothers me on a couple of levels.

First, professional athletes have families and to me it is the height of arrogance to suggest that someone is letting his team down because he wants to sit out a couple of games while his wife is giving birth — to the couple’s first child, by the way.

Second, baseball is a team sport, meaning that it comprises quite a number of capable athletes who can fill in while a starting infielder is taking time away from the game. If the Mets are depending solely on Daniel Murphy’s presence in the lineup, then the team has some major problems with which it must contend.

What’s more, the season is 162 games long. It’s a long season.

My take on this? Get off the guy’s back. Salute him for putting family first.