Tim Tebow stepped to the plate for his first at-bat as a professional baseball player Wednesday. He took a swing at the first pitch he faced.
Of course, he hit a home run.
Tebow is a polarizing figure in the sports world. As a Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Florida and, briefly, as an NFL quarterback, he attracted both adulation and scorn for his overt Christian faith and habit of "Tebowing," or bowing in prayer after successes.
On the field, some saw a player with anemic passing statistics, while others saw a pro who always seemed to find a way to win.
He faced considerable skepticism when, with his football days seemingly over, he announced plans to try for a baseball career at age 29. He had not played the game since high school.
Still, scouts from 28 teams came to an open workout, and the New York Mets saw enough to sign Tebow to a minor-league contract and send him to the Florida Instructional League.
Game No. 1 came Wednesday against a St. Louis Cardinals' team in front of about 250 fans in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Tebow batted second and played left field. His first at-bat ended in seconds with the home run to left-center field.
The pitcher was John Kilichowski, drafted by the Cardinals in this spring's 11th round out of Vanderbilt. He posted a 2.70 ERA in Class A ball with the Peoria Chiefs and the State College Spikes this past season, giving up four home runs in 11 games.
Tebow's teammates rushed out to greet him at home plate after the opposite-field bash.
At that point, Tebow's career stats looked like this: batting average 1.000, on-base average 1.000, slugging percentage 4.000. And a made-up stat: Ratio of pitches seen to home runs delivered: 1:1.
Barry Bonds? Babe Ruth? Tebow was surpassing them all, and making the skeptics look pretty foolish.
Or maybe not.
Tebow finished 1 for 6 at the plate. He grounded into a double play, grounded out to short, and flew out to center and left field.
He also hit a slow roller to third base in his fifth at-bat in the fifth inning, nearly beating out the throw.
No helmet needed
Don't bother calling Peyton Manning if you're an NFL team that has injuries at quarterback and is desperate. He's busy.
No, he's not really spending his Sundays at the grocery store or inviting brother Eli over to have nachos, as the commercials suggest. Manning, who retired after winning a Super Bowl last season with the Denver Broncos, is in China and rode the Great Wall of China in a toboggan.
The NFL tweeted a clip of Manning on the toboggan, which is a long, narrow sled used for the sport of coasting downhill over snow or ice. It typically is made of a lightweight board that is curved upward and backward at the front.
We all wondered what Manning would do in retirement, since he had so many options open to him. If he didn't want to coach, or have a prominent role in a front office, there's no question TV would have been a lucrative profession.
But he has passed that all up, at least for now, to cross off some things he couldn't do when he was studying opposing defenses all season.
Sports on 09/29/2016