Went to the strangest baseball game I've ever been to this weekend

The Game Room
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This is about as MPSIMS as you’ll find in the Game Room, but I figured it’s more Game-y so I’ll put it here.

A couple weeks ago I saw the news that Tim Tebow was promoted from the Florida League to the still Florida-based High A affiliate for the Mets. Well, there just so happens to be a High A affiliate relatively near by me, and lo and behold the Florida Firefrogs were hosting the Fightin’ Tim Tebows this past weekend. I’ve wanted to go to a FF game this season, and I love me a good gimmick, so Ms. Cups and I went to the ballpark.

The Tebows were (are, technically) in town for a four day set. They played Friday, Sat, Sun and have a game today (Monday). Given we went to the Saturday game, it’s no surprise that it was the highest attended game all season. It was even Star Wars Night! This means I wasn’t alone in the weirdness. Let’s see how crazy the game was bullet point style

Has Anyone Played Baseball Before?: Fielding errors happen in baseball, and a lot happen in minor league ball, but how many times do you think a fly ball is missed because 3 players are around it and no one yells “I got it!”? Once? Maaayyybbeee twice? Nope. How about FOUR TIMES. For the math illiterate, this is using every finger on your hand, including the thumb, but excluding the middle finger (Because I was already using that one at the fielders). I sucked at baseball, but I at least knew to move when the kid better than me yelled “I got it!” At least he KNEW to yell “I got it!”

Gloves are for Catching!: The amount of just randomly dropped balls was crazy too. A pop fly to the catcher bounced literally in his glove and was dropped. The first baseman dropped 2 or 3 routine catches and the center fielder apparently never learned the “run back before running forward” rule of fielding because he missed at least 2 easy catches.

This is the Game that Never Ends… Unsurprisingly, the game was tied at the end of 9 innings with just 3 runs a piece. It was 3-3 at the end of the 11th, and the 13th and after we had the little-used 14 inning stretch until, finally, the Fightin Tebow’s scored a run. We figured that would be it for the game and craziness. Nyope.

Taking the Word “Strike” Literally: Now it’s time for the Firefrogs to answer. Their first batter comes up to face a pitcher who has been in the game for a good 3 innings. He winds up! Throws! THWAK!! Nails the batter in the wrist. Next batter comes up. The pitcher winds up. Throws! THWAK!!! Nails the batter right in the shoulder. The crowd begins to boo. Batter three is in the box. He winds up! Throws! And the batter hits an easy fly. One out, men on 1st and 2nd. Batter four comes up. The pitcher winds up! Throws! CRACK!!! Blasts the batter in the side of the head. (Quick aside, hearing a fastball hit a batting helmet is a sickening sound if there ever was one). Batter stumbles up, clearly dazed and EXTREMELY PISSED, as is the crowd. The ump gives a warning finally and a pinch runner comes in. Batter five comes in and is probably scared shitless as this point. But it doesn’t matter, he ends up hitting a bloop single that scores the winning run in the 15th inning! We all go home happy. Well, some of us.

By the way, notice how I didn’t mention how Tebow did? Yeah, that’s because he didn’t play. Not a single play. He was first base coach for a half an inning, but never took the field.

This was obviously a very pro-Tebow crowd. They chanted his name constantly, they cheered when his team did well and there was Florida Gators stuff everywhere. I can’t completely hate on them for coming to the game just to see him, he was about 40% of the reason we were there after all, but you can’t even pretend? Really? Too bad we didn’t see him yesterday, he hit a Home Run.

All in all the game was fun. I got a free hat out of it and got to say I saw Tebow in a Mets uniform. I can also say I’ve participated in the 14th inning stretch and saw a 5-hour baseball game!

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To be clear, was the name of Tebow’s team literally “the Tebows”, or was it “the Mets”, as suggested by your last paragraph? Not all minor-league teams share the name of their majors affiliate.

And what was ever the big deal about Tim Tebow, anyway? Yes, yes, he was openly religious, but that puts him in company with the majority of all high-end American athletes.

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Reminds me of what the Braves & Dodgers did with Babe Ruth. I wonder if the Boston Redskins ever tried to pay him to toss a few footballs around before games.

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He was obnoxiously openly religious, or at least that was/is the perception, and even if nothing he did himself was obnoxiously openly religious, he quickly gained a very obnoxious, loud, openly religious following. That’s not necessarily his fault, but he’s still literally the face of it, no matter whether he was responsible for it or not.

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It actually is the Mets. The St. Lucie Mets to be exact. The Firefrogs are a Braves affiliate FTR.

ETA: It’s also worth mentioning people tried to get him to sign stuff, including a guy who tried to get him to sign a football. Yes, I get that he was a football player first, but you’re at a baseball game dammit, at least make an effort willya?

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I noted in the MLB July thread that Tebow is actually playing really well for St. Lucie.

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Interesting, because we went to see the Lowell Spinners vs. the Tri City Valley Cats (Single A, NY-Penn league) on Saturday, and I counted 5 batters HBP. (Although they guy keeping score next to me insisted there were “only” four.) No ill will or anything, just poor control.

Plus, as OP notes, the requisite number of botched routine plays.

Never seen anything like that at any level, unless a beanball war was going on. The Spinners boast they’ve sent 100 players to the majors. I guess somewhere along the way they stop dropping fly balls and booting routine grounders…

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Maybe they have sent 100 players to the majors… but the guys you saw are the ones who are left.

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An extra inning game, and he never even so much as pinch-hits? [Yeah, DH, which I prefer to pitchers hitting, note, but, still…]

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The Local Yokel’s on the radio were saying how much of a Bush League move it was to do that to the fans, especially because it went into extras.

Which, I tend to agree. I understand that the manager is looking to win the game, and Tebow is supposed to be “just another player”. But he’s not. He’s the reason people are attending games way from your home ballpark, and it’s likely it could be the only time these fans have a chance to see him…especially in Florida.

You want to give him a day off? Good, but do it at home. You owe the rest of your league to play him away from your home base in St. Lucie. Because I sure as hell ain’t gonna drive over 2 hours for an A game.

ETA: Oh, also add an extra 90 minutes or so to that time if they come from Gainesville, which is even further away from there than Orlando is.

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How odd they wouldn’t play Tebow with a packed house.

Even by A ball standards, that sounds like some pretty terrible baseball. By that point the “everyone stands around and watches the pop fly land untouched” thing should be almost as rare as it is in the majors. If a Junior League outfield did that four times in one game, their coach would lose his mind.

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Just coming in to say that a game today had five hit batters: Cubs and White Doc. John Lackey was responsible for 4 of them. So it can happen even in the majors. (And from what I can tell, no “beanball war.”)

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I’m about as religious as Ricky Gervais but it’s ridiculous to say he was obnoxiously religious. He prayed silently on the sideline and answered questions truthfully when asked. I understand the Tebow hate as much as I understand the over the top admiration.

He seems like a nice guy. He does a decent job covering college football on tv. Right now he’s famous for being famous as much as anything else.

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I saw that part of the game. No ejections or even warnings. Why?

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There WAS a warning, but it didn’t come until the Sox plunked a Cub in retaliation the next inning. I think that the umpire realized Lackey was just being wild. But, still…

Notable too for the fact that the Cubs had Kris Bryant ejected for the first time in his career for arguing a terrible called strike three. I wonder what the mild-mannered young lad said?

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Simply because it’s still on the page…

My Florida Collegiate League game last night ended up being rain delayed long enough for Ms. Cups and I to give up and go home before the game started. But to entertain us in the meantime they had trivia where I won* a free McDonald’s Premium Sundae. I went with the strawberry shortcake.

Next weekend, Ms. Cups and I are headed to Tampa to watch my Brewers play the Rays. Knowing our baseball luck in the past month I’m prepared for damn near anything!

*Don’t be too impressed. The question was “Who is the pitcher with the most wins in league history”, so it wasn’t exactly Final Jeopardy…

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Is that Cal Ripken?

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Since this thread is still on the main page, here’s an update to the thread about my MLB game this weekend.

Nothing crazy happened.

The Rays beat my Brewers on a walk off home run, which I guess is relatively “unusual” or “rare”, but nothing close to the craziness of the other two games. Oh well, I’ll always have TEEEEBBBOOOWWWW

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One of my favorite baseball trivia questions is what ML pitcher has the most losses – though most true fans know the answer.

It’s Cy Young who was 511-316. Nolan Ryan and Walter Johnson come in 3rd and 4th with 292 279. Pud Gavin is in 2nd place and if you’ve never heard of him, you’re in good company. The first guy on the list of most losses who actually had a losing record is Jack Powell who was 245-254 and who played most of his career with the St. Louis Browns so even that might be excused.

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Aaaaaand we now have a game that outdid the “John Lackey Game”; Jhoulys Chacin of the Padres hit 4 Cardinals by himself, a relief pitcher for SD hit one of the Cardinals again, and Luke weaver, who started for St. Louis, hit a Padre. No beanball war, just wildness, and SIX hit-by-pitches…in a major league game.