By Mike McCannWFAN
HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Tim Tebow train rolled into Hartford on Monday, beginning with a pregame media session you'd expect for a reigning MVP or a newly acquired slugger.
Speaking to a packed room of local reporters before the series opener against the Hartford Yard Goats at Dunkin Donuts Park, the humble and upbeat outfielder for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the Mets' Double-A affiliate, framed himself as someone who can change lives for the better, a "legacy" of "faith, hope and love, helping those in their dark hour of need."
While his success in college football hasn't quite translated into baseball, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner sees himself as a motivational example to both his own teammates and minor league rivals. Having "been around a lot of highs and lows ... I can encourage along the way, the different ways in how to handle things."
"One of the hardest things for me in fully adjusting" is going from football's one-game-a-week schedule to baseball's daily grind.
Tebow again struggled to find that consistency Monday night, twice striking out swinging against the Yard Goats' (the Rockies' Double-A affiliate) top pitching prospect, Peter Lambert, including in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and no one out. He walked his next time up and broke through in his final at-bat with a hard-hit single off reliever Mitch Horacek.
Binghamton's batting star was Jhoan Urena -- whose two-run homer in the seventh made the difference in the Rumble Ponies' 2-1 victory.
