Years ago, I remember chasing foul balls off the bat of Chris Duncan at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.
That’s honestly all I remember about the former Class-A Palm Beach Cardinal, who went on to have very brief success with the St. Louis Cardinals in the mid-2000s.
He was big.
He was a lefty.
And every at-bat, he was good for shooting one or two foul balls down the left field line — a product of a massive, late swing.
That’s Tim Tebow’s ceiling.
Yes, it’s time to once again revisit the Tebow hype train. You’ve either been on board since his days at Florida, proudly proclaiming your hero can achieve anything he sets his mind to, or never bought a ticket in the first place.
You might’ve guessed I fall into the latter category.
Tebow took the field in Port St. Lucie, Florida on Monday for his first taste of Spring Training with the New York Mets.
He ran. He threw. He fielded.
And he hit, blasting nine home runs in four rounds of batting practice before signing autographs for waves of his dedicated disciples.
Quick, give him his own locker in Citi Field. Better yet, just rename the whole franchise the New York Tebows.
But seriously, this is all preposterous.
It was preposterous when the Mets signed Tebow to a minor league deal last Sept. 8 and it still is.
I mean, the guy was a 29-year-old TV analyst, Heisman winner and former pro football player that hadn’t played organized baseball since high school.
And it showed.
Tebow hit an astonishing .194 and struck out 20 times in 62 at-bats in the Arizona Fall League last year. Though in his defense, that wasn’t even the worst average on his team. A handful of other Scottsdale Scorpions somehow hit worse.
To be honest, that’s better than I expected out of the bulky 6-foot-3, 255-pound outfielder.
At his press conference (yes, a Spring Training press conference!), Tebow said he wasn’t concerned with all the media attention he’s received since his most recent endeavor.
“I just want to be able to continue the process, enjoy the process, enjoy every day, get to know my teammates and have fun out there,” he told MLB.com.
What Tebow doesn’t understand is he’s making a mockery of that process.
Spring Training, normally used for athletes to work their way back into baseball shape and prepare for the daily grind of a regular season, has been spoofed by a player who doesn’t belong in the sport.
Maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe Tebow will flip a switch, make the adjustments and hit .300 at every level.
Maybe pigs will fly, too.
But it’s time for Tebow to put this dream, or nightmare, to bed and end this circus.
Patrick Pinak is the online sports editor. His column appears on Thursdays. Contact him at ppinak@alligator.org, and follow him on Twitter @pinakk12.
New York Mets outfielder and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow laughs during a news conference at the baseball teams spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
