Posted on 08/07/2017 10:17:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- It's official: Tebowmania is a hit for the St. Lucie Mets, and for the Florida State League.
Bolstered significantly by Tim Tebow's presence on the roster, the Class A Mets affiliate in the FSL has already set a single-season home attendance record with about a month left to play.
The team record was toppled on Friday night, when 3,399 fans pushed the attendance for the season to 108,057. Over the Mets' first 29 seasons, the record attendance mark was 105,379.
St. Lucie is seeing nearly a 50 percent jump in average attendance per game over last season, and the interest in Tebow is clearly a major factor -- one that overrides the Mets having the worst record this year in the FSL's South Division. And for the first time in four years, the FSL is going to see a rise in attendance.
The league drew 1,056,800 fans last season, and is on pace to significantly top that this season. That would snap a three-year run of FSL attendance dropping from the previous year; the league was down 11 percent in 2016.
A look at Tebow's week:
HIGHLIGHTS: Tebow's fifth homer of the year for the Mets back on July 29 was followed by a 0-for-13 slide that carried into this week, ending with a fifth-inning single against Tampa on Thursday. He had an RBI single in what became St. Lucie's 4-3 win over Tampa on Saturday.
(Excerpt) Read more at syracuse.com ...
But how is Tebow as a baseball player?
RE: But how is Tebow as a baseball player?
He’s doing quite well in the minor leagues, but enough to make the majors? The experts still disagree.
A .235 average with 8 home runs and 101 strikeouts in 344 plate appearances. That's for the entire season, St. Lucie and Columbia both.
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