Columbia Fireflies can count on a lot of fans

The Columbia Fireflies will have a lot of extra fans visiting their ballpark. Why? Well, the New York Mets assigned former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow to their A Full Season affiliation.

The New York Mets announced today that Tebow will be sent to the Sally League team.
According to Mets manager Terry Collins, nobody is working harder than Tebow did this spring training. What he wants is to improve. I’m sure he’ll be a great influence on the kids in Columbia and the fans will enjoy watching him play.”

“Tebow will bring a lot of national attention and major excitement to the Fireflies”, said Fireflies president John Katz. “Baseball fans, sports fans and Tim Tebow fans will likely come from around the southeast to see him play. We expect this to add to the energy at Spirit Communications Park and around downtown Columbia, especially during our opening weekend (April 6-9).”

It is very likely that the A Short Season team of the Mets, the Brooklyn Cyclones will envy the Fireflies as they won’t have the chance to draw a lot of extra fans.

Having signed with the Mets in September 2016, he participated in three Florida Instructional League games, in which he belted a home run in his very first at bat.
Tebow also played a series of Arizona Fall League games but wasn’t quite successful as he hit .194 (12 for 62) in a league featuring some of the best talented players from mainly AA and AAA.

“Tebow’s story is so compelling, from the BCS National Championships and the NFL playoffs to reinventing himself as a professional baseball player,” said Katz. “His humility, faith and unwavering commitment to better himself will bring a new dynamic to our clubhouse. Having a player that has achieved his level of success on two big stages will ultimately pay huge dividends for our players as they pursue their dreams of playing for the New York Mets.”

Even though Tebow’s steps in professional baseball gets a lot of attention, he isn’t the first Heisman Trophy winner to play in the South Atlantic League. Ricky Williams (Piedmont, ’96-97) and Chris Weinke (Myrtle Beach, ’92) preceded him.