Tim Tebow, playing in his first game for the New York Mets instructional league team Wednesday in Port St. Lucie, Florida, hit the first pitch he saw as a professional over the left center field fence for a home run. He cooled down quickly, finishing the afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals instructional team at 1 for 6, though he hit the ball solidly in other ABs.
In the New York Times account of the event, as soon as the writer got the home run out of the way in his two-sentence lead, he got right to the important part of informing such readers as don’t already know that, “Tebow is a polarizing figure in the sports world. As a Heisman Trophy winner while at the University of Florida and, briefly, as an N.F.L. quarterback, he attracted both adulation and scorn for his overt Christian faith and his habit of Tebowing, or bowing in prayer after successes.”
It’s not clear if Tebow will ever lead any baseball league in anything. But it is clear that the Times continues to lead the Media League in dreary and hackneyed coverage of anyone who holds traditional values and doesn’t try to hide them. Don’t try to hold your breath until the Times calls Colin Kaepernick polarizing.