Byrnes' skills begin to catch up to his hustle
May 13, 2003
By JEFF FLETCHER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Eric Byrnes' baseball career can be distilled into dozens of anecdotes, most of which have nothing to do with his talent.
While the A's outfielder is flattered that he is known so much for his hustle and grit, he also wouldn't mind if you looked a little deeper and saw someone who's actually learning how to play this game.
"My first three years, the only thing I was really known for is runing down the first-base line fast or running out of the dugout fast," Byrnes said.
By rnes, a blond-haired 26-year-old who looks like a surfer with a caffeine addiction, had been, essentially, a novelty.
Until now.
Oh, he still sprints to first after a walk, fearlessly flings himself into outfield fences and occassionally helps the grounds crew with the tarp, but he's also putting up big numbers because of the opportunity he's been afforded by Jermaine Dye's injury.
Since the moment Dye crumpled on the warning track with a strained right knee on April 24, Byrnes has hit .379. He has started 15 games in a row, the first extended playing time of his career.
"This whole time you guys might not have believed me, but I always believed in myself," Byrnes told reports. "Everywhere I played, I had success except at the major-league level. In my mind it was just because I hadn't been able to play on a daily basis."
A's manager Ken Macha, who is fond of the phrase "the players fill out of the lineup," will keep Byrnes in the outfield as long as he keeps producing. The tough decision won't come until Dye is activated, which is at least a week or two away.
"I don't think Byrnes is trying to just survive until Jermaine gets back," Macha said. "I think he's seized this opportunity."
Besides providing the A's with energy and smiles in the dugout, Byrnes has improved his game. He tracks balls better in the outfield. He's gotten more selective at the plate, drawing eight walks in 75 at-bats this season after drawing eight in his first 142 big-league at-bats over the previous three seasons.
By rnes has shortened his swing to go the other way. When he lined a triple into the right-center field gap on Friday night, it brought a smile to bullpen coach Bob Geren, who had managed Byrnes at several stops in the minors and winter ball.
"That's what he had been working on the most the last year in Triple-A," Geren said. "When I saw him hit that ball, that pumped me up."
Added Macha: "He's worked so hard to try to smooth himself out."
That said, it's unlikely Byrnes will ever do enough "smoothing out" to change his image among fans or teammates.
He will always be The Guy Who Runs Into The Wall.
Adam Piatt, a teammate of Byrnes in the minors and the majors, recalled a Double-A game in which their team was getting pounded, 15-2, in the eighth inning. That didn't stop Byrnes from diving headfirst into the fence to try to make a catch. He missed the ball by five feet.
"He knocked himself out, stood up and fell back against the wall," Piatt said. "Meanwhile there are guys running around the bases. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen."
Geren first coached Byrnes in 1999 at Class-A Modesto. After seeing the way he played in spring training, Geren said he just kept hoping that Byrnes would be on his team -- rather than the A's other Class-A team -- when camp broke.
Since then, Geren has had Byrnes in parts of each season. He also managed him in the winter of 2001-02, when Byrnes was named MVP of the Dominican Winter League. Geren said his teams always have won when Byrnes has been around.
At every stop, Byrnes has played the same way.
"The way I look at it, you might as well go 100 percent all the time because there's going to be that one play when all of the sudden you are just going to have to turn it on," he said. "I don't want to have to turn it on. I want it to already be on."
By rnes was promoted to the A's in August 2000. In his debut, he was drilled by Cleveland pitcher Steve Reed, who was apparently irritated by Byrnes' style. Byrnes stuck around and was on the playoff roster.
By rnes made the final out of the division series against the New York Yankees. The next day he was in Arizona, volunteering to play in an instructional league game.
"A lot of guys would want to settle down," Geren said. "But he wanted to go right back to work."
Geren can't say he expected Byrnes to do so well in his recent stint in the starting lineup. But he's not surprised, either.
"I would never bet against him," Geren said. "Like any other ballplayer, he has strengths and weaknesses, but he always finds a way to make his strengths outweigh his weaknesses. He's not smooth and pretty. He doesn't have that classic, beautiful swing, but he gets it done."
Contact staff writer Jeff Fletcher at 521-5489 or jfletcher@pressdemocrat.com.
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