Wiedmer: Braves might need Tebow to help sell tickets

In this Dec. 5, 2014, file photo, Tim Tebow speaks during an SEC television broadcast in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
In this Dec. 5, 2014, file photo, Tim Tebow speaks during an SEC television broadcast in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

As he spoke at the Athens (Tenn.) Chamber of Commerce annual fundraiser a couple of months ago, Tim Tebow told the audience of an incident that happened during a youth league baseball game when the eventual 2007 Heisman Trophy winner was no more than 7 or 8 years old.

"The coach told me I was being too serious after we gave up a run," Tebow said. "Then a couple of innings later I got upset when a teammate didn't throw the ball in from the outfield very well. The coach talked to my dad again and asked him to come out to the field to talk to me. Knowing how competitive I was and how much I hated to lose, even at that age, my dad acted like he was correcting me but said, 'Timmy, he just doesn't understand.'"

There are probably a lot of baseball fans around the country right now who might not understand why a 29-year-old Tebow is going to work out for at least 20 major league baseball teams six days from today - next Tuesday - in Los Angeles.

According to Sports Illustrated's website, Tebow is expected to run a 60-yard dash, take batting practice, then take a separate batting practice against advanced pitchers who won't tip their pitches while trying to get him out. He'll also field fly balls and throw them back to the bases.

And none other than former Atlanta Brave Gary Sheffield, who's seen Tebow work out, thinks he's got a chance to make the big leagues one day.

"I believe he has a great swing," Sheffield told SI. "But now he has to focus on harnessing that swing, on understanding what kind of hitter he is. Can he be patient enough to do that? But everyone in the majors has 100 or more strikeouts these days. Adding one more (player to that mix) won't matter."

Besides, as former Denver Bronco and current New York Jet Eric Decker said of Tebow - his Broncos teammate of two seasons - in a New York Post article: "Someone is going to sign him, I guarantee you that, because it's Tim Tebow and (the fans) will be coming to a baseball game with a football jersey on, buying tickets. I haven't seen him play baseball, but he's an athlete and works tremendously hard, so obviously he's going to put everything he has into it. If I was a Double-A or Single-A team, I'm signing him to get the ticket sales up."

It certainly worked for the Birmingham Barons 22 years ago by signing and playing basketball legend Michael Jordan for a full season of Southern League Class AA ball. Everywhere they went, including our town's Engel Stadium, the crowds were enormous, especially in the beginning, the gates often topping 10,000.

That Jordan was 31 years old that year and Tebow is 29 and a past high school baseball star only heightens the possibility that he just might pull this off. In fact, as a high school junior leading his Nease High School team in Ponte Vedra, Fla., to the state playoffs, Tebow batted .494 and hit four home runs with a swing given to natural loft.

An Anaheim Angels scout in those days who now serves as a manager and scout for the Boston Red Sox in the Gulf Coast League, Tom Kotchman once strongly considered drafting Tebow for baseball.

Earlier this week he told the Post that Tebow's chances to make it in pro baseball might actually be better as a pitcher than a hitter, saying: "You can take all the batting practice you want, but until someone is out there throwing 90 or 100 with sliders, curves and changeups, that's a lot harder road, especially at an advanced age, than it would be on the mound.

"He's a left-hander with size, makeup and competitiveness. That's what Tim Tebow has before he ever throws a pitch. Baseball is a hard game to play at any level, let alone the big leagues. But being left-handed and pitching? You're going to have a chance."

Kotchman's belief that Tebow can pitch his way to the bigs stems from watching him throw out a ceremonial first pitch at a University of Florida game this past spring.

"He threw the first one and was wild, and he immediately asked for the ball back to throw it again," the scout recalled in the Post article. "He threw an absolute missile down the middle of the plate (on the second throw). That's just him. That's the makeup and the competitor he is no matter what he's doing."

Missiles thrown down the middle of the plate, no matter how fast they get there, have a way of eventually landing beyond the outfield fence almost as swiftly as they reached the hitter's bat.

But as a 6-foot-3 lefty packing 245 well-chiseled pounds, Tebow might eventually develop enough of a variety - fastball, curve and slider - to become quite an intimidating reliever. His team's fans could even do the Gator Chomp each time he sprinted in from the bullpen.

And should that team ever need a pinch runner to barrel home from third, pity the fool who attempts to block him from home plate. If nothing else, as Decker said, Tebow surely could sell some tickets wherever he played.

All of which brings us to our beleaguered Braves. They could surely use to sell a few more tickets. And substituting the Chomp for the Chop wouldn't just be an easy muscle memory transition but would thrill the Politically Correct Police. It's a sure win everywhere except the scoreboard, and the Braves already have proved they aren't overly consumed by that.

Got a better idea, Atlanta?

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.

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