Tim Tebow gets walk-off hit at Arizona Fall League
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Tim Tebow has only six hits in 41 at-bats at the Arizona Fall League, but now he has a special one.
Tebow, batting just .146, delivered the game-winning hit Monday night with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. He sliced a first-pitch fastball down the third base line, lifting the Scottsdale Scorpions to a 4-3 victory over the Mesa Solar Sox.
Spilling out of the dugout, Tebow’s teammates mobbed the former NFL quarterback in celebration.
“It feels good,’’ Tebow said with a huge grin. “It feels good just to be with these guys, having fun with them.’’
It certainly hasn’t been all fun for Tebow in the Arizona Fall League. He needed 14 at-bats before he got his first hit and entered Monday night’s game with just one RBI before finding himself in a situation that stirred the crowd of 1,012.
There was Tebow, the burly 2004 Heisman Trophy winner batting seventh, walking to the plate with the bases loaded, two outs and the game on the line. One pitch, one left-handed swing and the celebration was underway.
“That is the situations you love,’’ Tebow said, standing in front of the home dugout as fans cheered him. “It’s fun. It’s a pressure, but they’re fun moments.’’
Tebow, who helped lead the University of Florida to two national championships in football, said other high-stakes moments prepared him for what he faced Monday night in the bottom of the ninth.
“You just have to handle whatever it is,’’ he said. “If it’s getting up and speaking in front of 20,000, if it’s playing football in front of 100,000. You know, bases loaded, two outs in the bottom of the ninth, your body just knows it’s stress and pressure, and how are you going to handle that mentally?
“And I think all of the games and the ups and the downs, all of it, help prepare you for pressure-packed stressful moments … This was a fun moment for all of us.’’
TIM TEBOW'S BASEBALL CAREER