Idiots Write About Sports

In our continuing effort to both recognize our commentors’ contributions as well as ridicule Eric Byrnes, we present aznemesis’ observation from this thred:

I finally had my first moment of anger with Eric Byrnes in the 8th inning. One out, two guys on, 2-0 count. He swings at a pitch out of the zone and hits into the double play. Throwing his helmet afterwards doesn’t help. It takes a lot to make Thom Brennaman sound exasperated with an Arizona player (he’s a total company guy), but even he couldn’t keep the irritation out of his voice.

Actually, fair credit to Byrnes: he did something that caused me to write “Byrnes does something smart!” in my scorebook, just so I could record the moment for posterity.

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but at some point, I will irritate you. Oh yes, I shall!
It was the fourth inning, and he was on third with one out. Luis Gonzalez hit a ball to right that looked like it was going to drop for a single but could have just as easily hung up for Jay Payton to catch. Now, the Eric Byrnes that I know would have sprinted toward home hell-bent for leather, whether Payton caught the ball or not. And odds are, he probably would have missed the plate. But the newer, less-boneheaded version of Byrnes held up at third until he was certain the ball was going to drop — if it did, he scores easily, and if it doesn’t, he can still tag up for the sacrifice.
Well done, Byrnesie. I guess it took getting traded and kicked around from team to team to convince you that it was time to grow a brain.
Ah, but that double-play! Now that’s the Eric Byrnes I remember — free-swinging, rally-killing Eric Byrnes, scuttling someone else’s offense for a change.
Ah, but at least he hustled on that 6-4-3 twin-killing. That’s what matters, kids.