TORONTO – Back in the day, Gary Sheffield used to rake. Now as a player agent, the longtime slugger sells. Tim Tebow isn’t one of his clients, but one swing from the former quarterback was all it took for him to believe. He’s working on plans to coach his friend through an attempted sport switch.
"It’s a real thing, it’s just a matter of him getting prepared," Sheffield says of plans to host a scouting showcase for Tebow before major-league teams. "That’s why we may be going to Arizona to work with him; therefore, he’s ready for the workout. Based on what I saw already, they’ll sign him based on that – I guarantee you they’ll sign him based on what I saw. Now, if he wants to take his time before he allows them to see him, that’s fine too. That’s the more comfortable he would be. Give him time.
"I’m telling you, man, I was shocked, too. Trust me, I was shocked, too, when I saw him swing."
Sheffield, in Toronto over the weekend to visit Blue Jays client Jason Grilli, insists neither he nor Tebow is taking this attempt at a sport switch lightly. The two have been friends for some time, first connecting at some charity events hosted by the former Florida star who played two NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos and New York Jets.
At one point, Tebow, 29, brought up his interest in taking a run at baseball. Sheffield got his back up.
"Any time a guy talks about playing baseball and he hadn’t played it since high school and it’s been so many years that passed, it’s almost like an insult to a baseball player," says Sheffield, who hit 509 home runs and posted an OPS of .907 over 22 big-league seasons. "It’s really like (he’s saying) our job is not that hard. I wanted to let him know that what we do is serious. And then he did it in a respectful way.
"He was letting me know, ‘Gary, I’m not trying to insult you. I want to fulfil my dream. If I’m not allowed to play football, my second passion is baseball, and I feel like I can do it.’ So I gave him the opportunity to show me what he’s got, and on the first swing I was convinced."
What about Tebow’s swing convinced him?
"I look at a batting stance, number one," Sheffield replies. "When you see a guy get in there, and when the ball comes, you look at all the mechanics, breaking it down. The one thing that I saw, his bat speed was so fast, and I heard that sound off the bat that you only hear from certain hitters. And when you hear it, you know it, and he had that sound. Swing after swing, even if it’s a bad swing or a good swing, you hear that sound."
Sheffield says he and Tebow are working out an arrangement to work together on hitting. Given time, Sheffield envisions a first baseman/outfielder who hits gap-to-gap with power. The thing he wonders about is whether Tebow can make enough contact.
"That’s where we’re talking about patience," says Sheffield. "It’s going to take six months just to talk about baseball and for him to understand hitting, and then for him to face college kids and then pickup games, and then you can face minor-league pro players. That’s how you build your way up.
"If he goes any faster than that, then I don’t see this working. But if he takes his time and be patient, I see it happening."
Rick Ankiel and Adam Loewen are a couple of recent examples of pitchers who converted to position players, both with mixed results (Loewen eventually converted back to a pitcher again).
Still, Sheffield is more reminded of Michael Jordan’s attempt at pro baseball in 1994, when he played 127 games with double-A Birmingham in the Chicago White Sox system, slashing .202/.289/.266 with three homers and 51 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases in 48 attempts.
"This is not a Brian Jordan or Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders, this is a Michael Jordan situation," says Sheffield. "He’s going to get a job because he’s Tim Tebow, just like Michael Jordan got a job because he was Michael Jordan. You can’t tell me with that swing that Michael Jordan showed that he should’ve been in the big-leagues. It was because he was Michael Jordan. And the same thing’s going to happen with Tebow. But if you look at Tebow’s swing, it’s a better swing, a more powerful swing. So it’s just a matter of giving it time, making sure he’s patient, and it’s going to happen."
Among the things Sheffield wants Tebow to work on is learning how to stay inside the baseball instead of going around it with his bat on tougher pitches, learning to identify and hit mistakes and being able to consistently think the game.
That will require perseverance, determination and the ability to handle failure that every successful baseball player must have.
"I know how persistent he is, I know how determined he is and I know how focused he is. And he thinks he can conquer anything," says Sheffield. "I don’t think he’s ever been up for a challenge until he’s seen baseball. He thinks football is a challenge until you get out here, you’re on your own. Nobody’s blocking for you. This is not if I throw the ball, somebody catches it and my job is over. Everything you do with this bat in your hand, you’re on your own. That’s what he’s got to face."
