As you're no doubt aware, America's taxi-squad quarterback Tim Tebow is poised to take a whack at playing baseball, and he's bringing his reasonable left-handed swing with him. Suffice it to say, this development has found a prominent place in the sports news cycle, and it follows that current MLB players and managers would be asked for their #TebowTakes.
Via MASN's Roch Kubatko, Orioles manager Buck Showalter was queried about Tebow's baseball aspirations, and he at once pulled punches without quite pulling any punches.
"I better leave that one alone. Am I intrigued? No, not at all. Amused? No, not at all.
"I think about what these guys do in our Dominican Academy and Delmarva and Aberdeen and the Gulf Coast League and Frederick and Bowie and Norfolk, I take very seriously the stuff they have to do to get the opportunities and do what they're doing. Somebody will sell some tickets in the spring. I should be careful, we may sign him.
"I bet he was a good player in high school. I was, too."
Buck Showalter is perhaps the best manager in baseball, and he's certainly a board-certified Baseball Man. He also doesn't seem to have much time for novelty acts.
The issue isn't really whether Tebow is sincere in scheduling a showcase for all comers later this month. The issue is whether, should this move forward, an organization signs him on grounds of merit and future potential (bear in mind he's 29 and hasn't played above the high-school level) or merely to gain attention and rake in a few bucks along the way.
Professional sports are at heart entertainment products, so the latter motivation is defensible on those grounds, but those grounds aren't necessarily going to appeal to someone like Showalter. That's quite understandable.
