Tebow focuses on improving ‘the little things,’ not the daily results

Tim Tebow has had his share of highs and lows during his first season of professional baseball.

But unlike playing his other sport, football, Tebow doesn’t get a chance to dwell on them too much because he is in the lineup almost every night for the Columbia Fireflies. Getting a chance to correct his mistakes and competing each day continues to drive Tebow on a nightly basis.

Tebow’s results have been mixed as the first half of the Fireflies’ season winds down. He entered Friday’s game with a .226 average after a pair of doubles Thursday night.

“You have games every single day, and it is not about the results in every single game,” Tebow said before Friday’s game against Charleston. “It is about what you do in batting practice, on the tee and cage and apply that. You might have a great game but didn’t do it the way you wanted to.

“That’s what makes this game great and difficult at the same time. It is all the little things you constantly have to do and prepare.”

Tebow is constantly working. After meeting with reporters following batting practice, he went back in the batting cage to continue to hone his craft. There is also film study for Tebow, although he said it isn’t as much as when he was trying to carve up opposing defenses in college at Florida and later in the NFL.

“It’s the competition,” Tebow said. “I love the chance to compete every game.”

Tebow believes he has gotten better since arriving in Columbia and loves playing at Spirit Communications Park, where he says the atmosphere is “always rocking.”

Another packed house was there to see Tebow and the Fireflies, and they continue to be the top drawing team in the South Atlantic League on the road. Hagerstown set a stadium-record for the four-game series.

The crowds will continue to follow wherever Tebow ends up in the future, whether in Columbia or advanced-A or Double-A in the coming weeks.

But Tebow said he isn’t concerned with how long his stay with the Fireflies will last.

He is trying to stick to the “process” and continue embracing the grind of playing the sport he loves.

“I’m not worried. That is in other people’s hands. For me, I just focus every single day on the little things I need to do to get better,” Tebow said. “Emotions will always fail you. If you get caught up in little emotions like people cheering or booing for you, that will go away. You’ve got to remember the deeper reasons why you chose to do it. It wasn’t for the emotions; it was for the convictions and the love.”

This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 8:24 PM with the headline "Tebow focuses on improving ‘the little things,’ not the daily results."