I don’t begrudge people from pursuing their dreams, no matter who they are.
My own father, a couple of years before he was drafted into the Army after the Pearl Harbor attack, was already 24 years old when he accepted a tryout with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He didn’t make it. He told me that at 24 he was probably a little on the old side to be a minor league rookie anyway.
But did he worry about that when he drove his beat-up jalopy to Omaha? No chance.
A lot of people are weighing in on Tim Tebow’s intention to pursue a major league baseball career. Many of them are dismissive.
Much of this comes from the fact that Tebow, who had his NFL quarterback career cut short due to the fact that he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with his passes, is 29 years old. He also hasn’t played any real baseball since his high school days. The likelihood that Tebow will be moved up the ladder to a major league team seems to be, at best, slim.
It’s a funny thing about Tim Tebow. Wherever he goes, whatever he does with his life, controversy follows him. Part of that, no doubt, comes from the fact that he’s an uncompromising Christian and unusually up-front and sunny about it. A lot of people don’t like sunny Christians, but on the other hand a lot of other people are drawn to Tebow for precisely that reason.
I wish him the best, myself. And I think a lot of that stems from my conviction that Tebow just doesn’t care if people like it or not. I think that’s very admirable in a day and age where way too many famous people seem to think they’re their own promotion company. Tebow is doing this for himself. He doesn’t need to. He just wants to see how far he can go with it.
In the same week that Tebow announced his baseball decision, another baseball player — former All-Star Prince Fielder — sadly announced that he will end his 12-year MLB career for medical reasons. That’s just another reminder that life is short, guarantees are nonexistent for professional athletes, and you’ve got to go for all you can get while you still can.
Personally, I’m thinking about Tebow’s muscular frame right now (he’s built like a Greek god) and wondering if he might be capable of poking ‘em out of major league stadiums with some regularity. There’s a first baseman playing with the Minnesota Twins right now who’s being paid a king’s ransom for hitting mostly singles at a .270 clip.
Don’t kid me. I know you’ve been wondering, too.
Anyway, I heard a few weeks ago that Mr. Tebow has been considering a possible run at politics, as well. I say if the baseball thing doesn’t work out, go for it, and why not aim for the very top? At this very moment I’d say I’d probably vote for him before I’d throw in with either of this year’s two major party presidential candidates.