Tim Tebow's minor league assignment: Class A Columbia Fireflies

Tim Tebow's first stop on what he hopes is a journey to the major leagues has been determined.

Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, will be assigned to the Class A Columbia (S.C.) Fireflies, the New York Mets' lower A-ball affiliate. They also have a higher A-ball club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where Tebow has played for the major league club in Grapefruit League exhibitions this spring.

Columbia competes in the South Atlantic League, and the average age of pitchers in the league last year was 22. Tebow, 29, will be up to a decade older than some players he faces, although far less experienced from a baseball standpoint.

Tebow has not played a full season of baseball since 2004, his junior year of high school. Nonetheless, he has acquitted himself with dignity in Grapefruit League play, getting four singles in 20 at-bats, with five strikeouts,  after an 0 for 3 performance Monday against the Detroit Tigers.

“Sending him to a full season club is what we hoped to be able to do,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told Newsday, which first reported Tebow's assignment, on Monday. “And based on what he’s done in spring training, and his whole body of work since last fall, we feel comfortable with him going to Columbia.”

The Fireflies open the season at home on April 6 against Augusta (Ga.), beginning a seven-game homestand.

"Tim Tebow will bring major excitement and national attention to the Fireflies and city of Columbia," Columbia President John Katz said in a statement on the club's web site. "Baseball fans, sports fans and Tim Tebow fans will likely come from around the southeast to see him play. We expect this to add to the energy at Spirit Communications Park and around downtown Columbia, especially during our opening weekend (April 6-9)."

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