He played for the New York Mets as pitcher, and left baseball very quietly to be with his wife and five handicapped children. His eldest daughter, Stephanie, was born prematurely in Korea with a hole in her heart and was rejected by her parents. He took care of the operation that was necessary and adopted the child.
The second child was from Guatemala, Ryan, who had a thyroid problem and mental illness. The third child, Nicole, also was born in Korea without a left hand, had a heart problem, and epilepsy with repeated seizures each day, and was abandoned by the parents. They heard about the child and adopted her. The fourth child, Wayne, had an impaired leg, a Vietnamese child, who was abandoned by the parents. The fifth child is a girl born in Guatemala like Ryan. She had a cleft lip and after adopting the child had the necessary operation. In order to adopt more children, they have built a house with nine rooms.
The reason for leaving base ball was the child Nicole. She was in the hospital at that time for treatment of her heart condition. Tim received notice of his trade to the New York Mets from the Montreal Expos while in the hospital. It was this incident when he had to walk away from his daughter before undergoing open-heart surgery that decided his future.He realized that his place was not in the ball park but to be with his wife and children. The family was more important to him than the cheers of the fans, popularity, money and baseball itself.
He told the journalists who came to interview him: "baseball will continue very well without me but my children need a father. I am the only one that can do that." His wife who was beside him also spoke to the journalists.
"Our children were not wanted. Someone has to care for them. We are able to do that with a warm heart. We helped change the future of these children. Without help, these children would have died. We also have been changed by our children. These children have learned from us gratitude and happiness and we all by overcoming our difficulties realize what it means to be a Christian."
