Now entering his fourth season in professional baseball as part of the New York Mets organization, Tim Tebow belted his first ever spring training home run Tuesday off Detroit Tigers pitcher Alex Wilson, a former MLB reliever.
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Tebow stepped to the plate in the top of the sixth inning and sent Wilson’s pitch well over the left-field fence to score two runs. The homer cut Detroit’s lead to 5-3, but New York could not complete the comeback and fell 9-6.
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“I feel like I am seeing the ball pretty well, besides my first at-bat of the spring when I was super-aggressive,” Tebow told the New York Post. “After that I feel like I have been seeing it … I am just trying to improve a little bit every day.”
Tebow, 32, has advanced through the minor leagues in his three previous professional seasons. The left fielder played last season with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse and the season before in Double-A with Binghamton. He made a splash in his first professional baseball at-bat in 2017 with the Mets’ Class A affiliate, the Columbia Fireflies, when he hit a home run.
Tebow’s efforts to make it to baseball’s biggest stage have come only after a brief career in the NFL. He played two seasons with the Denver Broncos and one with the New York Jets. He also spent time with New England in 2013 and Philadelphia in 2015.
When he was with the Broncos in 2011, Tebow took over mid-season for an injured Kyle Orton and led the team to the playoffs. Denver won a memorable wildcard game over the Pittsburgh Steelers when Tebow tossed an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of overtime.
In college, Tebow led the Florida Gators to two BCS national championships and won the 2007 Heisman Trophy as the top college football player in the nation.
Tebow has garnered attention from fans and media alike throughout his football and baseball careers. Much of the scrutiny has come because Tebow has often spoken publicly about his faith. As his star rose at Florida and in the NFL, Tebow shared his faith in Christ with anyone who asked. And even as Tebow stays busy with professional baseball, college football media coverage and a new wife, Tebow still finds time to share his faith at various speaking engagements and on social media.
In the Fall 2008 edition of the Sports Spectrum Magazine, Tebow talked about his urgency in sharing his faith.
“I don’t want to go to Heaven and have God ask me why didn’t I do more and why didn’t I use my platform to tell more people about Him.”
Believe! “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) February 12, 2020
In a 2019 video posted by the Tim Tebow Foundation, Tebow explains the Gospel and what it means to him:
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