Tim Tebow lack of baseball experience was on full display during his MLB debut Wednesday, as the former NFL quarterback went 0-3 with two strike outs and an inning-ending groundout for a double play.
But it wasn’t Tebow in the batters box that was the most cringeworthy part of the day, but rather in the on deck circle – the wrong one.
At the start of the bottom of the third inning, Tebow, who was starting at DH, left the Mets’ dugout to get some warm-up swings in before it was his turn to bat. Instead of walking straight out to the designated on-deck circle, Tebow walked all the way around behind the plate to the third-base side in front of the visitor’s dugout.
Boston’s pitched Rick Porcello, who was warming up on the mound, said he assumed it was a bat boy.
After a few swings, home plate umpire Ryan Additon noticed Tebow in the wrong on-deck circle, and told him to get back to his side of the field.
Tebow explained his mistake after the game, saying he had always thought that lefty batters warm up on that side of the field no matter which team they play for.
“I thought you walk around because you’re a left-hander. I found out you don’t do that.”
“It looked like he hadn’t played baseball in a while,” Mets hitting coach Kevin Long said.
“He’s so far behind on the nuances of the game,” Mets OF Jay Bruce said.
“Definitely there’s a lot of things I’m trying to play catch-up on,” Tebow said.
.@TimTebow steps to the plate for his FIRST at-bat in a #SpringTraining game: https://t.co/lNaAimk6Eb pic.twitter.com/a5mEv0cnR8
— MLB (@MLB) March 8, 2017
(h/t Deadspin)