12/21/24
August 09, 2016
Tim Tebow Wants to Play Baseball: Tim Tebow has been training for a year to play professional baseball. He'll invite all 30 Major League Baseball teams to a tryout later this month. He last played the sport as a junior at Nease High School in 2005, hitting .494 on a team that reached the state semifinals.
I wouldn't be surprised if Tebow got a look from some club that put him at Triple-A to see what he could do.
My Texas Rangers have done some outside-the-box signings before, like Josh Hamilton and Matt Bush, and those guys had big character concerns. Tebow is as squeaky clean as it gets in sports.
posted by rcade at 10:33 AM on August 09, 2016
Hard to imagine how an athlete who wasn't able to compete at the professional level due to a lack of both throwing accuracy and the ability to adjust to the speed of the pro game translates into someone who can hit pro or semi-pro level pitching.
posted by cixelsyd at 10:35 AM on August 09, 2016
And I wanna be a dinosaur cowboy. Sometimes dreams just don't come true.
posted by tahoemoj at 12:14 PM on August 09, 2016
Sometimes they do. Why not take a stab at it if he can get teams to give him a look?
Why would inability in football mean inability in baseball? We've seen athletes who were good enough to play both sports before.
posted by rcade at 12:30 PM on August 09, 2016
He probably hasn't seen live pitching in 11 years. At this point he's been out of baseball for longer than he played in the first place. If he can actually hit minor league pitching I will be shocked.
posted by tron7 at 12:49 PM on August 09, 2016
I wouldn't be surprised if Tebow got a look from some club that put him at Triple-A to see what he could do.
If some team likes what they see, he probably starts in Rookie A ball, or A+ ball. I would have strong doubts he makes it up to AAA unless he's absolutely smashing all the minor leagues below him.
My Texas Rangers have done some outside-the-box signings before, like Josh Hamilton and Matt Bush, and those guys had big character concerns. Tebow is as squeaky clean as it gets in sports.
The difference there is that Hamilton and Bush were AMAZING baseball players before their troubles hit (albeit in high school and minor league ball). Tebow couldn't have been all that much in high school as no team even took a flyer on him in the draft.
MLB teams were willing to draft Tom Brady, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Daunte Culpepper, John Elway, and Dan Marino...but not Tim Tebow.
posted by grum@work at 01:49 PM on August 09, 2016
The Angels were going to draft Tebow, but he didn't return an information card and they thought he wasn't interested. He had attended an elite high school baseball combine.
The link says he's already gotten a contract offer.
posted by rcade at 02:42 PM on August 09, 2016
MLB teams were willing to draft Tom Brady, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Daunte Culpepper, John Elway, and Dan Marino...but not Tim Tebow.
... and Johnny Manziel
posted by LionIndex at 05:16 PM on August 09, 2016
Why not take a stab at it if he can get teams to give him a look?
Because he's just going to trip over his dick on a big stage again?
posted by tahoemoj at 05:19 PM on August 09, 2016
Why would that matter to him more than a longshot chance to play pro ball? Tim Tebow performs circumcisions for Jesus. He's immune to ridicule.
posted by rcade at 05:49 PM on August 09, 2016
Why would an MLB team want to take a chance on a guy that's never been past first base?
posted by MeatSaber at 10:17 PM on August 09, 2016
I wouldn't be surprised if Tebow got a look from some club that put him at Triple-A to see what he could do.
Tebow playing even one game at AAA level would be the most ridiculous major sporting publicity stunt I have ever seen. Elite college players take 3 years of pro ball to get to AAA and you think Teebs has a shot when he hasn't played in anger since high school 11 years ago?
posted by deflated at 01:58 AM on August 10, 2016
Tim Tebow play AAA ball? We're talking about the same guy that thought he was too good for football in Canada. You think this same guy is gonna live the AAA lifestyle? Don't they ride buses and stay in motels in AAA ball?
posted by NoMich at 07:30 AM on August 10, 2016
Speaking as a Canadian football expert (as of this week), Tebow's passing deficiencies would be more apparent there than in the NFL. They pass so often a handoff is just an extremely short pass.
MeatSaber's line wins the Internet.
posted by rcade at 09:25 AM on August 10, 2016
Yep, good one, meaty.
posted by NoMich at 09:51 AM on August 10, 2016
Jordan started in AA ball, and he was actually good at his other sport. There's no way Tebow starts in AAA.
posted by Etrigan at 10:45 AM on August 10, 2016
Speaking as a Canadian football expert (as of this week), Tebow's passing deficiencies would be more apparent there than in the NFL.
But his skill as a running QB (like Flutie) could open things up for him.
posted by grum@work at 11:23 AM on August 10, 2016
Flutie was good in the CFL because he thought the game quicker than his opponents and had an awesome arm. Yeah, he could run and that helped open up the field, but he ran to create passing lanes. Don't forget he was the best US College QB and the only reason he didn't get a shot right away in the NFL was his height.
Tebow can run, but he can't throw, and he's even worse throwing on the move. With his limited skill set he's actually better suited to the NFL game under an offensive coordinator who can dumb down the offense and give him 2 reads maximum on each play while sitting in the pocket (Andy Reid fits here). He played his College career behind an offensive line that was as talented as some current NFL teams have and that is the primary reason for his amateur success. I'm not dismissing the fact he's got a lot of winner in his makeup, he just does not have the skills or ability.
It's as much a reach to think Tebow could play in the CFL as it is the MLB.
posted by cixelsyd at 05:13 PM on August 10, 2016
Touching all four bases by any means necessary before you turn 30 is a worthy pursuit in my opinion.