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Eric James Byrnes (born February 16, 1976 in Redwood City, California) is a left fielder in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Byrnes is known for making athletic catches on fly balls in the outfield. more...

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Amateur career

Byrnes' high school career was spent in the Western Catholic Athletic League, where he played for St. Francis High School in Mountain View, CA; a San Francisco Bay Area town located 15 miles north of San Jose. After graduating in 1994, he was selected in the Major League Baseball Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Electing to go to college, Byrnes attended the University of California at Los Angeles where he quickly became a starter. At UCLA (1995-98), he hit 2nd in the batting order and played right field in a lineup that featured future major-league stars Troy Glaus (1995-97) and Garrett Atkins (1998). He was again selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, this time by the Houston Astros after his junior season, but again elected to stay in school. Byrnes finished his career as one of the most successful hitters in Pac-10 history with a .331 career average and 75 doubles, a conference record.

Professional Career

He was selected in the 8th round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft by the Oakland Athletics, and this time was ready for his professional career. He has played for the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks. Byrnes was also involved in a 2003 baseball game that included two significant base running gaffes in a single inning. With a chance to close out the Boston Red Sox, the Athletics had a potential rally stifled by two baserunning mistakes. Byrnes was tagged out after failing to touch home plate after a collision with catcher Jason Varitek. After missing home plate, Byrnes shoved Varitek and was subsequently tagged out on the play. This play was then followed up by Miguel Tejada's base running error in the same inning.

Off the field activities

During the 2006 post-season, Byrnes was an analyst for ESPN's Baseball Tonight show. He has also appeared on Fox's baseball pre-game show and The Best Damn Sports Show Period talk show. (In one appearance on the latter, he surprised everyone by jumping over the set's large coffee table in one leap. After he left, John Salley demonstrated his own difficulty attempting to simply step over the table, saying of Byrnes, "That white boy has got serious ups.") He co-hosted the World Series pre-game show on FOX Sports, for games 1 and 2, while Joe Girardi did 3,4, and 5. Had the World Series come back to Detroit for games 6 and 7, Byrnes would have been part of the pre-game show. During the off-season, Byrnes has a radio show on KNBR, a station located in the San Francisco Bay Area where he currently resides with his bulldog, Bruin. During the 2007 MLB All Star Game, he was in a kayak in McCovey Cove, with Bruin during the pre-game and game itself. Bruin attempted to jump from the kayak, but to no avail. Byrnes also has his own TV show, called "The Eric Byrnes Show," which airs on FSN Arizona during the Diamondbacks' regular season. The half-hour show gives fans behind-the-scenes looks at the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as Byrnes' personal life.

Read more at Wikipedia.org