Byrnes burns for big-league job
A's are giving outfielder his shot this season
Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, March 17, 2002
Phoenix -- With his blond hair, oodles of energy and friendly-to-all demeanor, there is nothing Eric Byrnes evokes as much as a golden retriever puppy. The outfielder would be happy to chase down balls all day -- and he is about to get a chance to do just that for the A's.
But the go-go-go spirit that will soon lead to a big-league job kept Byrnes, 26, in constant trouble during his elementary school days in Portola Valley. A's manager Art Howe likes to say that Byrnes would run through walls. Back then, he was bouncing off them.
"Eric is so intense, and he's always walked to his own drummer," Byrnes' mother, Judy, said. "From (when Eric was age) 2 to 13, we were always getting called by the principal. It became annoying." The incidents were never major. Once Byrnes was busted for "transactions on campus," and his parents arrived fearing the worst. Instead, young Eric was selling those pens with the women whose bikini tops fall off when the pen turns upside down. Told that his son was selling the pens for $2, Byrnes' father, Jim, said, "Sounds like a good deal to me," and left the room.
Punishment never helped much. Byrnes noted that most of the time it backfired because he was benched during recess and then wound up with even more energy to burn off in class.
"As a kid, I was a wreck," Byrnes said cheerfully.
But as he approached his teens, Byrnes began to learn to channel his vigor. When it was suggested that the problem might be sugar, he swore off sweets for a year. He was 8 or 9 at the time. It didn't help.
At 13, Byrnes wrote down all his goals. A decade earlier, at 3, he announced to his family during the College World Series that he would one day be one of those players on the TV, and now he set about figuring out how to do it. He decided he wanted to play Pac-10 baseball, and then go on to the major leagues. He committed himself to the sport, and to school. "
Eric realized he had to get himself together, and he turned it around," said Judy, who also has a 28-year-old daughter, Shea. "He was not an easy little kid, but he was a fabulous teenager, which is when most parents have problems." Portola Valley Little League coach Tom Sutter was a major influence, as was family friend Ronnie Lott. Byrnes went on to play both football and baseball at St. Francis in Mountain View, where he wowed baseball coach Chris Bradford.
"There's something about Eric that can't be quantified," said Bradford, who has been at the school for 32 years. "But there's a hunger inside him, a drive, like no one else I've seen. It was difficult to get people to believe me. He was an ugly duckling. Scouts would come by and say things like, 'He's awkward. He's not fluid.' But they kept coming back."
One day, some scouts mentioned to Bradford that Byrnes wasn't running properly; he was on his heels. Bradford sent Byrnes to work with the track coach, and Byrnes applied what he learned immediately. When the scouts returned, Byrnes had shaved two-tenths of a second off his time from home to first. Now, he's probably the A's fastest runner.
For Bradford, nothing exemplifies Byrnes more than his senior year. Stanford had been tracking the Woodside kid for years, and other Pac-10 schools wanted him, but even with a scholarship on the line, when St. Francis found itself without a catcher, Byrnes volunteered.
"He was the ugliest catcher you've ever seen, but we won the championship and he was MVP of the league," Bradford said. "He was just totally willing to sacrifice himself because he wanted the team to win. That's the most selfless act by a player that I've ever seen."
Shortly thereafter, Byrnes received one of the great disappointments of his life. He'd gotten the grades for Stanford, as well as the SAT scores, and a scholarship offer was on the table. But the night before the signing date, Stanford coach Mark Marquess came to the Byrnes' home to tell him that he had not been admitted because his class rank needed to be higher.
"I was devastated," said Byrnes, whose cousin, John Gall, later played for the Cardinal. "I was absolutely heartbroken. I cried for 10 minutes and then I called UCLA."
Byrnes and his mother say that going to UCLA was the best thing that could have happened to him, because he learned to get along away from home. He started all four years for the Bruins, playing in the College World Series his junior year. Though he was drafted in the fourth round by Houston after his junior year, he elected to stay and work toward his degree in history and economics.
But excitement seems to follow Byrnes, even after he learned to harness his energy. One night in Westwood, an intruder broke into his room.
"He picked the wrong apartment," said Byrnes' longtime friend and UCLA roommate Bryan Sidensol. "Eric is a very light sleeper, he drinks like a 12- pack of Coke every day -- surprise, huh? -- and he realizes this guy is there, gets in a crouch and then flies at the guy. He punches the guy in the face, knocks him out and holds him against the wall until the police get there."
"I've never landed a better punch," Byrnes said, grinning. "He crumpled, was down for the count, and when he came to, I was standing over him in my boxers holding a baseball bat. They found six wallets on him, and the guy wanted to press charges against me, that's the greatest thing. But when it went to court, he pled guilty."
Byrnes went 2-for-3 and drove in the winning run against USC later in the day, and the L.A. Times' headline read, "Byrnes KOs intruder, then 'SC.
" Byrnes spent this past winter in the Dominican Republic. He was immensely popular, earning the nickname "Captain America," and he was named MVP of the league after hitting .345 with 11 homers and 37 RBIs. But he also saw the lawless side of the island, where angry fans sometimes accost players in the dugout. One night when Byrnes was in his hotel room, a guest was shot dead in the lobby by a security guard.
"Everyone has guns down there, it's like the wild West," Byrnes said.
Byrnes' willingness to go to the Dominican to work on his game (he concentrated on hitting to the opposite field), and his success there signaled to the A's that he is ready for the major leagues. He has had callups here and there -- including a memorable debut at Cleveland in 2000 when he had two hits, scored two runs and stole a base and nearly touched off a brawl because Indians reliever Steve Reed didn't like his gung-ho style -- and he was on the playoff roster last fall and was the last man to bat in the division series, striking out against Mariano Rivera.
Byrnes is likely to open the season as the A's fourth outfielder. Howe has said he no longer believes Byrnes needs to play every day to continue to improve (which would mean more time at Triple-A Sacramento). General manager Billy Beane has said, only half-jokingly, that Byrnes could make the team on sheer force of personality.
"He's unique," Beane said. "Eric can bring that intangible to the club, even if he's not playing, because he's got that buzz and energy about him. He has an infectious personality."
This is how likable Byrnes is: As a freshman at UCLA, he beat out a pair of brothers, Mike and Scott Seal, for a starting outfield job, causing Scott to transfer. The brothers became two of Byrnes' closest friends, and Scott spent most winters living in Woodside with Byrnes and working out with him.
One of the men Byrnes is currently battling for a roster spot is another of his buddies, outfielder Adam Piatt.
"My roommate," Byrnes said. "Here we go again. But we're both cool with it, and Adam is great, a real straight shooter. He'll ask me how I did and I'll tell him and he'll say, 'You jerk.' "
Many people in the Bay Area are rooting for Byrnes, who would be the A's only local product besides Jermaine Dye, who grew up in Richmond and Vacaville.
Byrnes is already a big hit in Sacramento, where he was named one of the town's Most Eligible Bachelors, and where he still does a weekly radio show.
"He's very marketable, because he's so outgoing," Sidensol said.
"More than anything, I'd love to play for Oakland if I could," Byrnes said. "I'd like to play there for the rest of my career, I really would."
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