BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow will begin the baseball season with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets.
Tebow will make his debut when the Rumble Ponies open the 2018 season with a seven-game home stand starting April 5 with a 6:35 p.m. game against the Portland Sea Dogs at NYSEG Stadium, the Rumble Ponies said in a news release.
“I’m excited to take the next step in my baseball career by playing for the Rumble Ponies,” Tebow said. “I look forward to getting to play in front of the Binghamton fans and around the Eastern League.”
John Hughes, president of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, called the Tebow news “yet another win for this community.”
Tebow, a non-roster invitee to Major League Baseball spring training this year, split last season between the Columbia (South Carolina) Fireflies, the Mets’ Low-A affiliate, and the St. Lucie (Florida) Mets, the team’s High-A affiliate, according to the Rumble Ponies.
He compiled a .226 batting average, hit eight home runs, and collected 52 RBI over 126 games in his first full season of professional baseball.
Tebow signed with the Mets as a minor league free agent in September 2016.
Tebow also played in 35 games in the National Football League with the Denver Broncos in 2010 and 2011 and with the New York Jets in 2012. In four years at the University of Florida, Tebow won two college football national championships and the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore in 2007.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com