Remember When Garth Brooks Was In Spring Training For The Mets In 2000? Right Before Their World Series Run Against The Yankees

Quite the collision of storylines in country music and sports here given the latest news in those respective spaces. To go with the worst first, country music icon Garth Brooks has been accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit, but is adamant that he's innocent and isn't capable of such awful behavior . The latest twist is that Brooks named his accuser publicly, which led the woman to demand he be sanctioned by the court . We're all hoping justice is served and that if Brooks did do something wrong, he faces the consequences. This post isn't meant to trivialize the accusations, which are obviously serious. The Brooks scandal bizarrely coincides with the more uplifting news that the New York Mets are headed to the NLCS after knocking off the favored Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 in their best-of-five divisional series. We're actually only four Mets wins and five Yankees victories away from another Subway Series, which would mark only the second time that's happened. In the 2000 World Series, the Yanks dominated their little-brother franchise in a 4-1 gentleman's sweep. Anyway, the reason I bring up the Mets is due to the surprising link between their team and Brooks that I only recently learned about. In the spring training leading up to that Mets National League champion team from 2000, Brooks actually got some playing time for the Orange and Blue. How did it go, you ask? For a little context first, Brooks was a three-sport athlete in high school who played baseball, football, and even earned a scholarship for track and field to Oklahoma State University thanks to his javelin skills. It's one thing to be a letterman at the prep level. Trying to hit against MLB-caliber pitchers is a whole other ball of wax as they say. Brooks found that out in the toughest way possible, failing to get a hit in any of his plate appearances that spring. https://twitter.com/NYMhistory/status/1770081705191182641 I mean hey, at least Garth had a good eye at the plate on several of his cracks at bat. And there's no real shame in not making the cut for a roster good enough to win the National League pennant. Not that he probably would've made it anywhere else. All told, not bad for such an accomplished musician, willing to faceplant in front of America just for the sake of chasing a dream. This is reminding me of Tim Tebow's stint in the Mets' farm system. The former Heisman Trophy winner at Florida and eventual first-round NFL Draft pick who won a playoff game for the Denver Broncos actually made it all the way to the Triple-A Syracuse club. A couple injuries cut short his 2018 and 2019 seasons, and eventually Tebow retired from baseball in February 2021. I still think he should've gotten promoted to the big leagues just as a stunt. Would've been fun. Because he could actually kinda-sorta hit well. No really. He made a Double-A All-Star Game in 2018 as a designated hitter. https://twitter.com/Mets/status/982037344088883200 We'll bring it on back around to Garth Brooks to end here. Brooks also had spring training sessions with the Padres in 1999 and the Royals in 2004. He managed a hit in both of those stints. Brooks was 1-for-22 at the dish for San Diego, and on his only hit for Kansas City, he actually aggravated a pulled hamstring while hustling down the first base line to leg out a single. A pinch runner spelled the then-42-year-old Brooks once he was safely aboard. Amid all the chaos of the New York media, Brooks' spring training cameo evidently didn't hinder the Mets' preparations for a run all the way to the Fall Classic. It might be met with more outrage if it were to happen today. Tebow faced scrutiny as a Met and as a Jacksonville Jaguars tight end for that matter for taking away an opportunity from a more deserving player. Just some New York pizza pun-intended slices of strange history in the odd saga of the Mets and Big Apple sports in general. And while Garth never made it to the Big Leagues, he did don a Mets jersey on the field at Shea Stadium... alongside Billy Joel for a performance of "Shameless" in 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POXZ_tJkiyw