Mets’ Tim Tebow gets standing ovation as run scores on his double-play groundout
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — In his first game against major-league competition Wednesday, Mets prospect Tim Tebow found the learning curve for a 29-year-old rookie isn’t only about trying to hit the curve.
Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy-winning and NFL quarterback, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a hit by pitch (and was immediately doubled off first on a line drive) in the Mets’ 8-7 victory over the Red Sox at First Data Field.
Tebow’s day in the batter’s box was about what you’d expect from a guy who had never faced a major-league pitcher and started with Rick Porcello, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner.
It was Tebow’s day getting to the batter’s box that was a problem. Before his first at-bat, leading off the bottom of the third, the left-handed hitter wandered over from the Mets’ third-base dugout all the way to Boston’s first-base side of the field.
“I didn’t know where he was going,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “I thought he was going to go shake hands with Red Sox coach] Gary DiSarcina … The umpire told him he had to go back to the other side.”
Said Tebow: “I kind of thought, ‘You walk around because you’re a left-hander.’ I found out you don’t do that.”
Tebow learned a lot of lessons. He learned umpires sometimes call strikes on pitches you don’t like, such as the 1-and-2 fastball from Porcello that plate umpire Ryan Addition said caught the outside corner. That ended Tebow’s first at-bat. All four pitches from Porcello were 90 miles per hour or better.