EX-MET ANDREW CHURCH NEEDS TO SHUT UP

I never liked the fact that Tim Tebow became a Mets player in their minor league system. It almost seemed too easy. It almost seemed definitely like the Mets were trying to sell more tickets by bringing Tebow in.

Because, let's face it... people love the guy, or hate the guy, but there's no in between. And Tebow sells merchandise and tickets... so the folks that like him will buy, and at this point in the Mets franchise, they need to take whatever they can get. It's a desperate move, but a smart one for a flailing Mets franchise. Plus Tebow is a solid athlete and can probably succeed... so there's a great story attached to it.

Enter Andrew Church who is unhappy about all of that.  Not only that... Church is out of a job, just like the many, many Minor Leaguers who were affected in this pandemic.  It's a very sad situation. None of us here at BYB wants to see the minor leaguers screwed from dreams and milestones.  But this just gets cranky and Church needs to pipe down.

24/7 Sports writes:

"...former Mets minor leaguer Andrew Church, is not happy with how the Mets handled Tebow as a player and criticized them in an Instagram post earlier this week. On Sunday, he joined Lance Medow on Mad Dog Sports Radio to go in depth about Tebow and the Mets.

'Personally on a relationship level between me and Tim, I think he's a respectable human being,' Church said. 'I think he carries himself well. I think he works pretty hard for an athlete. As a person and a human being, I can't blame this man for following his journey. I'm bitter. He felt like we had some tension between me and him. I sat down and talked to him myself and I said ‘I am angry at this organization for what they are doing and how they are handling this.’ I said we have spent all of our lives….I have spent since I was two years old playing competitive baseball. All we wanted was the same rights he had, the same respect he got. Not from the fans but our organization and we felt that didn't happen at all. "

A few things to unwrap here.  Church respects Tebow as a man and Tebow thought there was tension between the 2.  And guess what... reading that statement, clearly there was. Church should be railing against the Mets much more, a crap team... not Tebow.  Tebow is an athlete.  Church shouldn't have even dragged Tebow into it.

Much like Michael Jordan years ago, if a team thinks there's a ballplayer in that build be it a basketball or football player, they take a chance.  Sure, the Mets sold a few extra Tebow jersey's in the process, but Tebow did nothing wrong.

Here's more from cranky Church:

'There's speculation that he made more than the average minor leaguer, but it wasn't about that. It was about how they treated him. For example, it’s mandatory to take a bus to every trip we go on. The team bus. I know for a fact he did not. None of us can do a separate job in the middle of the season and definitely be back in the lineup. He was able to. "

Russell Wilson does spring training with the New York Yankees, but never plays a game and never plays during the season.  It's a contract he worked out.  Tim Tebow obviously was smart enough to hammer out whatever he could being a big public figure like he is. I think what's dumb is that Andrew Church doesn't understand this. Sounds like sour grapes. Yes, there are favors in high level sports when it comes to high level athletes.  Lets be honest, everyone knows Tim Tebow. No one knows who Andrew Church is.

Are the Mets idiots for hanging onto Tebow? Nope... it's smart, but what they should have probably done was explain to the organization as a whole how it would go down.  Now you have players like Church that don't get it and feel like they're being left in the dark. And I have news for you... I don't care if they're major leaguers or minor leaguers... players need to understand the process.  Then those players won't come out after the fact and bitch and moan.

Do I like the way the Mets handled Tebow? No. But I get it.  Here's the problem... Church doesn't and he's slamming an organization he was once part of like Tebow was the deciding factor or something.  To be honest, I don't get it. It's sad.

IF JUDGE STAYS HUMBLE... HE'LL BE FINE

(July 11, 2017 - Source: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images North America)

Jason Keidel wrote another instant classic for CBS Sports and the headline is bound to get every Yankee fan pissed off.  Not me though... I get everything he said... except one thing... comparing Matt Harvey to Aaron Judge should be a crime.  Other than that, I like his latest piece titled Don’t Shoot The Messenger, But Judge Should Just Retire Now. Nice job!

In this piece, Keidel speaks highly of the Yankee sensation and how 'cool' is the place to be and Judge is it. But sooner or later, Judge will fall...

(July 10, 2017 - Source: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images North America)

"Judge has reached an orbit that’s even too high for most celebrities. Even folks who don’t care for baseball — and really don’t care for the Yankees — are punching their remotes to see his next space-age homer. He’s entered a realm of crossover appeal that’s so rare that some of sport’s most transcendent names are being whispered with Judge...

And surely he will make a lot more money than his current salary of $544,000. By the time he reaches free agency in 2023, he will be making that per week.   But life won’t be any more exciting or wondrous. Not only is he a divine talent, but at age 25 he’s got the universal sense that we all had at that age, that this is just the beginning, that there are no such thing as bad days, that life is a gold-plated path to infinite wealth and wisdom. And as anyone with a television can see, he’s got a disarming innocence that only exists when you first knock on fame’s door.

(July 10, 2017 - Source: Mark Brown/Getty Images North America)     

It won’t take that long for Judge’s star to crash, dim, or burn when it passes into our atmosphere. In six or eight months, pitchers will surely find holes in his swing, and surely the media will find flaws in his character. What if he drops his first fly ball with a man on third? Or he strikes out with the bases loaded in the ALCS? Or if God forbid, he flips his first bird at TMZ or gets into his first barroom spat?"

Now many of you hate this.  You don't want to hear it. You think it's crap and you now hate Jason Keidel.  Well... Keidel is provocative... and good and don't be a hater, because here's the reality; While we don't want to see our beloved Judge fall... it happens to the best of them.  Bumps happen... because when you're popular, folks want to find ways to make you unpopular. It's just the way life goes for top celebrities.  We don't want to hear it as a Yankee fan, but it kind of happens like... all the time. 

(July 6, 2017 - Source: Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America)

Will it happen to Judge? I hope not, but don't be surprised if some a-hole finds a photo of him with some chick who later comes out and accuses him of something outrageous, or something more. Trust me, I wish that garbage on no one... not even Matt Harvey.  Here's the thing though... Aaron Judge is enjoying this and staying mad humble about it!  He's not getting ahead of himself. He's not buying into the hype, he's taking it one day at a time.  He doesn't speak about himself in third person and you don't see the guy with strippers.  For crying out loud the guy lives in a hotel in New York City and speaks to no one. He just commutes back and forth to the stadium and for the moment is squeaky clean and staying out of trouble.  He's a good kid and raised right as far as I can see. But you know the way the tide turns, and hopefully he doesn't fall off. 

Keidel brings reality to Aaron Judge's amazing season whether we want to hear it or not.... it's actually a great piece. But I was disturbed by this comparison...

Photo: Getty Images

Matt Harvey? Really Keidel? You are trying to thread a Judge to Harvey? You know I hate Harvey... how could you?  Read this...

"Whatever that dynamic is that we’ve distilled to the term “hating” will soon surface and attack or devour the young, wildly gifted outfielder. We want our heroes happy, up to a point. Then we break them down. Then we cheer them during the comeback. If we can find issues with Tim Tebow, we’ll find some dirt on Aaron Judge.

(April 26, 2017 - Source: Al Bello/Getty Images North America)

Not too long ago, Matt Harvey wore the crown. Even had his own handle, the “Dark Knight of Gotham.” Now, Harvey is some broken shell of his former eminence and dominance. The very supermodels he so proudly wore on his arm to Knicks games are now discarding him with frigid indifference. He’s not cool anymore. And cool is everything."

Damn you Keidel!

Here's the thing though, I'm not buying it. Why? Because we're dealing with 2 different personalities.

Judge knows he's good, but he's not gonna let anyone out here know he knows.  Matt Harvey on the other hand knew he was good, pretty much told everybody he was great, bought into the hype and reeked of arrogance as he said it, and tried to bang strippers using the ol' "I'm the Dark Knight, wanna see my penis?" 

So once Harvey started to realize he wasn't very good, and started having problems, the media pounced, because like I have written earlier, while celebs and athletes can be cool, there is always someone to remind them they are not, because they do digging through scandal, or blow up stories to try and knock them down.

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Harvey is no Aaron Judge... and while one day, like Kevin Maas, the opponent could find a way to pitch to him so he falls from grace... here's the difference; Judge won't live in the past of his greatness... he will work hard to make adjustments and try to improve. 



Matt Harvey is Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite... thinking about what could have been... walking around like the 5th Heartbeat telling the world he "Still has it'.


Judge, while larger than life will come back to reality one day.  That's a fact.

But Aaron Judge is humble, and he was raised right... and trust me, he will succeed, even in the toughest city of the toughest critics in the world... NYC.

Jason Keidel is the man. Nice work, dude. You know how much I like your stuff.  Keep going.

TEBOW'S BIG PICTURE

Photo: Sports Illustrated

This is not Yankees related, but it is baseball and life related. These are two things that I genuinely believe go hand in hand. As a youth baseball coach, from tee ball with my kids to high school kids, with Babe Ruth and American Legion experience along the way, I make it a point to emphasize how we can learn so much from sports that apply to our daily life’s and how the big picture is so much more than between the foul lines.

Tim Tebow gets it, big time. At his press conference following his first day at minor league camp (a day in which he belted nine home runs in BP by the way) Tebow responded to a reporter’s question and nailed the answer.

Youth athletes should be playing the game for the love of it, not because they are pressured into it or because they think they’re getting a full ride to college and will play at Yankee Stadium one day. Could they? Absolutely. Should they dream big? You better believe it. But sport should be for fun and for improving as a person. But life is more than that.

Photo: Coach Lucia in action

I’ve discussed this kind of topic before and have explained how life lessons such as hard work, determination, teamwork, punctuality, humility, accepting criticism, unselfishness, overcoming tough situations and many more can be learned through sport and applied to the real world.

But what we do on the field, whether we are 12-12 or 0-12 in our last 12 at-bats, do not define us or our purpose. There is always something greater. Life has bigger callings.

I use my mistakes as an example to my players. I played just one year in college. I made a poor decision to leave school and am now 32 finishing my degree. I regret it every day. I could have had a degree at 22 and played four years but it didn’t work out that way. But by making the decisions I did, it led me to my current job and my current job coaching the youngsters I do, I see as part of my calling.

I love volunteering and love hearing how I made a difference in a player’s life, somehow or another. I don’t strive for reactions like that but I take pride in it and if I can reach one player then my job is done and I was successful that season. I feel a purpose of mine is making my players, and my kids, better people, both on and off the field.

I see players all the time beating themselves up over a strike out or an error. I did it too when I was a kid. But life is so much more than one play or at-bat. If my kid stinks at baseball but is a stud in life, being a good, caring person who is willing to help others, then I don’t care about what he does as an athlete. What he does on a field does not define him, what he does off the field and his values, morals and how he lives his life, do.

I’ve always liked Tim Tebow and he has always seen the bigger picture. He does a heck of a lot for people all over the world including The Tim Tebow Foundation’s ‘Night to Shine’ Prom for special needs students recently. He is a stand up guy.



Once you find your calling, you will know it and it will be important to you. For some it could simply be being a parent, being a teacher, being a role model, being a coach or participating in church.

For Tebow it is about being generous and spreading love. That, whether he achieves his dream of becoming a Major Leaguer or not, is true success.

--Dan Lucia

BYB 'Series' Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @DManLucia

TEBOW'S NOT READY

Photo: USA Today

Just a quick note about our buddy, Tim Tebow.  It's being reported that the dude is just not ready for the Big stage.

SI.com writes:

"Tim Tebow is not among the list of Mets minor league players that have been invited to the team's major league spring training camp...

Tebow is coming off a stint in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .194 with 20 strikeouts in 70 plate appearances.

Photo: New York Daily News

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson previously said that he did not intend to invite Tim Tebow to the big league camp..."

Tim is popular because he's either loved or hated, but when it comes to baseball, a difficult sport, it's clear, the dude is just not in a spot to play with the big boys.  No matter... let the man try to pursue his dream.  Hey... you never know...

THE TEBOW 'BITCH FEST'

You either love Tim Tebow or hate him.  I don't care either way.  If a guy works hard and tries to prove he can accomplish something for himself, I applaud it, and if his name is Tim Tebow, or Hank Tebow, or Tico Torres... so be it. (Tico Torres is the drummer for Bon Jovi. Sorry... it just flowed as I was writing this...)

Tim Tebow is getting some pretty crappy press, and it's coming from scouts who are checking him out at the Arizona Fall League. NJ.com writes:

"We asked one of Major League scouts who watched Tebow closely this week ... a scout with big-league experience. Brace yourself. He didn't like anything he saw from Tebow...

'He was a little out of place and overmatched at this setting. He didn't look very athlete out there. He wasn't able to hit a good fastball. That's expected when you haven't played baseball in a long time. I think he's got a lot, a lot of work to do... I think he needs to lose some weight to have a little more athleticism because right now you can't really play him on defense because he's that bad. He can't read the ball. He's kind of slow and stiff out there.'"

Now look, it's 1 scout, of course he's not named and who knows if the scout actually likes Tebow... he could hate him and that assessment is apart of that. We've done that type of thing here at BYB when we had a guest writer give him thoughts on Tebow even attempting to go Pro. (Read ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, TIMMY!) Our guest writer admittedly didn't like Tebow, but more importantly didn't like the special treatment he got.  Opinions matter, but all sides matter too.

Whatever the case, Tebow, like him or hate him is on a mission and we'll see what happens. It could be the worst experience of his life.  It also could be a success. We don't know... but you gotta try to know for sure.

Just wanted to pass this along.

OUTRAGE FROM THE MINOR LEAGUES!

Minor League baseball is a grind.  Anyone who tells you differently has never been part of that struggle.  Once you sign, there are many doing the same, and you work up the ladder, barely making ends meet at times and still following your dream.  But I gotta tell ya, it's not easy.  But the key there is "the dream", because if you talk to minor league baseball players, and I've talked to several, the money is little, the travel to away games can be brutal, the sleeping arrangements aren't great and as much as you work hard, there's always someone else working just as hard.  And so, you work, work, work to try and make it to "the Show" to fulfill your dream and eventually sign a nice contract so you can make millions.

Tim Tebow isn't following the same path, and I have a problem with that.  It's being reported by the New York Daily News that he'll be getting a $100,000 signing bonus. Outrageous if you ask me:

"Tim Tebow just wants a chance.The former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner will get the opportunity to chase his baseball dream with the Mets beginning Sept. 19 in Port St. Lucie. The Mets signed the former football player and media fixation to a minor league deal Thursday that includes a $100,000 signing bonus. They have assigned him to start his professional baseball career in the team's instructional league at their spring training complex."

But why should that type of money be allowed?  Because he's Tim Tebow?

I immediately thought about a brilliant piece by Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel speaking specially about how hard it is to be a Minor Leaguer. Garrett Broshuis spoke to Real Sports and talked about how difficult it was to survive on his, then salary of $3000.



And there's more. Check these tweets out going after the Tebow signing bonus:

 (In Photo: Cody Decker)

Just so we are clear. Tim Tebow just got a 100K signing bonus to play baseball.... Mine was 1K....

— Cody Decker (@Decker6) September 8, 2016

The fact Tebow got 100,000 to sign let alone him even getting signed is a joke

— Corey Walter (@Corey_dubv) September 8, 2016

Every minor leaguer gives up so much to chase their dreams, @TimTebow doesn't even have to give up his day job. #justnotright

— Peter Moylan (@PeterMoylan) September 8, 2016

And I think about my conversation with Ty Hensley's mom Marci a while back, and how when her husband Mike was in the minor leagues, it was pretty hard:

Marci Hensley: "I lived through it with my husband, Mike Henlsey. I lived through the highs, the lows, the injuries and his heartbreak when he was released. We worked 4 jobs between us to allow him to finish school, most of the time not knowing where our next dollar was coming from. "

And so I guess the question is "Why?" and why does this type of thing have to happen? I'm not gonna lie, I'm disappointed in the Mets and I'm disappointed in the fact that Tebow can demand this type of bonus and he hasn't played ball in 10 years.

You gotta wonder what's going on here.  When you find out, please tell me, because the whole thing sucks.

THE METS JUST SIGNED TIM TEBOW, GUYS

You knew it would happen.

You knew that one guy's dream would become reality and a MLB team would eventually bite when it came to signing Tim Tebow.  That's because Tim believes he can, and the Mets believe he can one day help their club.  Plus, and let's not get it twisted... gimmicks work!

The New York Mets have signed Tim Tebow to a minor league deal. The New York Post writes: 

"The Mets signed the former quarterback to a minor-league contact. Tebow will head to the Mets’ Instructional League, the team announced."

And that's all you really need to know.  Tim's back in New York, this time playing baseball.  I applaud the effort and I admire the dream. Now let's see what happens.

TEBOW & THE ATLANTA BRAVES

Small, yet interesting nugget coming out of MLB land.  The Braves like Tim Tebow, and I wonder if they'll sign him.

According to Mark Bowman: "As the Braves have continued to evaluate the possibility of signing Tim Tebow to a Minor League contract, they have remained interested primarily because they do not see an obvious risk. The financial commitment would be insignificant, and the former NFL quarterback would simply fill a need for Double-A Mississippi while serving as a non-roster player.

'Whatever Tim decides, the fact that he wants to play baseball is good for the game,' Braves general manager John Coppolella said. 'It's similar to when Michael Jordan or others have wanted to play. It's positive to draw this kind of interest to the game and make it a story because it's good for baseball.'"

The Braves have not signed Tim yet, but they are thinking about it.

What started out as a dream for Tebow will now quickly develop into not a gimmick any longer, but now business... and that's how team's will look at Timmy.  Can he help the team win? Can the team work with him on getting better so he can contribute? Those are the questions... let's see what happens next.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE DETERMINATION

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.”

 –Tommy Lasorda

I happened to come across a tweet with this quote from the great Tommy Lasorda the other day. I love it. 

When I have a locker room for a team, this will be in my locker room. After all, one day I hope to be a head varsity baseball coach. That quote also reminded me of something I saw following a baseball workout the other day.

“This is something I love to do and I think then you have that mindset, it lets you be free to go out there and compete. It lets you be free to do what a lot of people think you can’t do.”

 –Tim Tebow

If you love something and you have the determination to succeed, you will reach your highest level of achievement. What level is that? Hall of Famer? All-Star? Opening Day roster? Independent league? Beer League? What does it matter? What matters is that you follow through with something you love and you make it a goal to reach your highest level of achievement. That’s Tebow’s goal.

In football, Tebow reached his highest level while playing for Urban Meyer at the University of Florida. He won the National Championship with Florida in 2006 and 2008 and won the Heisman Trophy in 2007. Sure, he was drafted in 2010 in the first round by the Broncos and even led them to the playoffs, but he was never a great NFL QB. But he sure never gave up. He gave it his all and eventually was released for the last time in September 2015.

“When you don’t have that (fear) it lets you be able to be free to pursue life and what you’re passionate about, not what other people think you should do.”
 –Tim Tebow

Tebow never seemed to fear failure and always outworked everyone by all accounts. He was a success as far as I’m concerned. So who is to say that he is not going to be a successful professional ball player? How would he know what his ceiling, his highest possible level of achievement, could be if he didn’t give it a try?

“Regardless of it you fail or fall flat on your face, if that’s the worst thing that happens, that’s OK. When did that become such a bad thing?” 

–Tim Tebow

Some scouts say it was a waste of time while others say he has some serious raw power. How it will translate as a 29 year-old potential rookie, who knows. Maybe it ended with the workout, maybe it ends in an Independent league looking to sell tickets. Maybe it ends in the minors or an invitation to spring training. Maybe he even turns out to be a big leaguer.

But what we can say for certain is that he chased a dream and at the end of the day, he can never hang his head about that. Ever. 

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” 

–Wayne Gretzky

I always have respected Tim Tebow and who he is. I’m not a very religious person necessarily, but I respect the deep faith he has. I respect the hard work and being a great role model. I respect that he put in a ton of work to be able to even have a shot to work out in front of dozens of scouts. Most people would never have even given the effort. He did.

Don’t underestimate determination, you just might surprise everyone.

--Dan Lucia, BYB Senior Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @DManLucia

  

 

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, TIMMY!

I think one would be hard-pressed to find a more polarizing figure in sports than Tim Tebow. You either love him or hate him. For those that love him, he can do no wrong and there is no dream that is impossible for him to catch. Then there are those of us who just do not understand why he hasn't joined the rest of us on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams already.

If you can recall during his tenure in the NFL (8-6 as a starter), his ambition at the time was to be a full-time starter with a long, prosperous career and then reality started to kick in. People started to see Mr. Tebow just did not have the talent level to compete in the NFL. 

ESPN gave him a college analyst job, yet there was a stipulation put in there by Tebow stating that although he is working for the network, he is still seriously considering a career in football and that took precedent. Dream job as an analyst on ESPN making great money on a multi year deal not good enough, I guess? Although there are broadcasters who would've killed for the opportunity that was given to him based simply on nothing other than media attention.

And this is where as a football and sports fan, I begin to find this man to be a bit arrogant. No one is taking away the amazing accomplishments in college, I get all that, but the Pros are an entirely different game, and it seemed as if he wasn't able to come to terms with his talent only being able to take him so far.

Flash forward to his "workout" for 27 MLB teams including my beloved Yankees. Not only was this covered by various media outlets including Bleeding Yankee Blue and MLB but the NFL covered it as well. 

Tebow was quoted saying football is in the past and it's no longer his ambition. But a career in the big leagues is suddenly. Never mind the countless nameless faces that are far more talented and have worked way harder than he has in the minors or in college. They may never get a shot or the exposure... but Tebow gets that opportunity.  Why? What's that based on? Absolutely nothing.

I find myself hard-pressed to find the appeal with Tebow. When he did have an opportunity in the NFL he seemed more concerned with proselytizing than football. I would frequently discuss with friends how I thought he was basically just wanting to be a quarterback for the media exposure for his eventual turn as a pastor in some mega church in Florida. My point is, I just see what others see in Tebow.

This is a love affair between Tim Tebow and the media. Tim wants the attention and they are willing to give it because he is click bait. Why else would the NFL commemorate a man whose record was 8-6?

I am of the opinion that this Tebow tryout is a publicity stunt. Never once during his NFL tenure did he mention possibly playing baseball at some point if his NFL career failed. His dream was about the NFL and all about being the quarterback. I hate to break it to him but it's not any easier to get into the Bigs. 

Not only is the competition intense, but the number of people vying for that same position he wants has now multiplied. Will he be content sitting on a single A team bench watching, learning, absorbing, and listening? That may not be enough for him. If his history is any indicator, it will be something he is not satisfied with.

Someone finally convinced him that a football career was out of the question. I just wish that same person had had the good sense of sitting down with him and having the same discussion about baseball.  I don't get it and I don't buy it either.

By the way, thank you to Bleeding Yankee Blue and to Robert Casey for the opportunity to express my opinion on this hot topic.  

--Dan Salcedo

Guest Writer for BleedingYankeeBlue.com

Follow me on Twitter: @danincasper