Tim Tebow is retiring from baseball after five years as a minor league player for the New York Mets.
The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner returned to baseball in 2016 for the first time since his first year of high school and reached Triple-A, encouraged by then general manager and current team president Sandy Alderson.
Tebow played 77 games at the highest level of the secondary baseball league in 2019, hitting 0.163 with four home runs. He ends his career with an average of 0.223 in 287 games.
“I want to thank Mets, Alderson, the fans and all my teammates for the chance to be part of such a huge organization,” said Tebow in a statement released by New York on Wednesday. “I loved every minute of the trip, but right now I feel called in other directions.
“I never want to be partially involved in anything. I always want to be 100% involved in whatever I choose. Thanks again for everyone’s support in this incredible baseball journey, I will always appreciate my time. “
A left-handed outfielder, the 33-year-old was invited to major league spring training this season, winning one of New York’s 75 spots after Major League Baseball limited the size of the spring squad as a precaution against the coronavirus. Position players are not expected to report to the Mets spring complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida, until next week.
Over the course of four big league spring training sessions, Tebow hit 0.151 in 34 games, connecting for his first and only home run last spring, before the fields were closed.
“It is a pleasure to have Tim in our organization, as he has been a consummate professional during his four years at Mets,” said Alderson. “Upon reaching Triple A level in 2019, he far exceeded expectations when he entered the system in 2016 and must be very proud of his achievements.”
Tebow’s baseball career started with a bang – he made his first professional hit during an instructional league game against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fall of 2016. Later that fall, he made headlines by comforting a fan who had a fit. in the front row of Tebow’s Arizona Fall League debut.
The former NFL defender was an All-Star in Double-A in 2018, when he hit 0.273 with six home runs in 84 games. He fought the following year in Triple-A and had his season interrupted by a laceration on his left hand.
A transcendent University of Florida quarterback for his talents and avowed Christian faith, Tebow appeared in 35 NFL games between 2010-12, winning a playoff game with Denver during the 2011 season. He was released by the Philadelphia Eagles during pre -Season in 2015, the last time he appeared in an NFL cast.
He was hired by ESPN as a college football analyst in 2013 and worked in broadcasting all the time looking for a chance to play major league baseball.
“That would obviously be something special, and I think another part of the dream,” said Tebow last spring. “Part of that is just playing every day, enjoying and competing, which I love. Obviously, that would be incredible. It would be a lie if I said it wouldn’t be very nice. … But I wouldn’t say it would be a success or failure if it happened or not. “