Eric Byrnes has been waiting a month for Eric Byrnes to arrive.
He and manager Bob Geren hope he's finally made it.
The A's final cut of spring training, Byrnes struggled throughout April in Sacramento. Trying to shake off his woe-is-me blues, he barely hit above .220.
But after belting a home run Friday night, Byrnes added three solid singles, stole two bases and made a marvelous diving catch in center field Saturday night to help the River Cats to a 5-0 win over the New Orleans Zephyrs.
It's the Byrnes that Geren has been waiting to see.
"He's a confidence guy," Geren said. "When he's got his confidence going, he thinks nobody can get him out. He knows it."
But for Byrnes, it was difficult to be confident when his heart was still in Oakland.
"This month wasn't so tough," he said. "Last month was tough. When I came back here, I had that I'll-show-them attitude. I wanted to get a hit every time up.
"There was going to be a letdown. It's only natural. As much as I didn't want to admit it, it's true. I'm only human."
Byrnes helped Jonathan Adkins make quick work of the Zephyrs, blanking the Houston Astros' Triple-A affiliate through 6 2/3 innings.
Larry Sutton staked Adkins to a 3-0 lead in the third with a two-out, bases-loaded double. Byrnes' RBI single made it 4-0. And Byrnes made it 5-0 in the eighth when he singled, stole second and scored on Adam Piatt's single.
And now, a month into the 2002 season, he's ready to admit that a demotion was the best thing for him.
"You learn more when you struggle," he said. "Ask Barry Bonds what he's learning when he's just seeing the ball and hitting it. Absolutely, this has been the best for me. I'm playing every day, learning every day."
And dreaming of the day when Oakland calls for good.
"I started this season 21 for 100," he said. "I've had stretches where I've gone 21 for 100 before. But when it happens at the start of the season, things get magnified.
"The law of averages says I'm going to get my hits. Nobody in this room thinks I'm going to hit .220 this season."
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