Farewell to the Eric Byrnes Show

The Eric Byrnes show, much like the career of the star himself, has met its demise. It will not be renewed by Fox Sports Net Arizona. Today, most reality TV shows star celebrities that were long past their prime. One could argue that the Eric Byrnes show became a real reality show when Byrnes fell into this category starting in 2008. A TV show about a .200 hitting outfielder with bad hamstrings seemed to fit right in with shows like Hogan Knows Best, Armed and Famous or Flavor of Love.

By now we are all painfully aware of the turn Eric Byrnes career has taken. He had a magnificent 2007, one in which extreme hustle somehow translated into MVP caliber stats (21 HRs 50 SBs). His crazy hair, clutch hitting, care-free attitude and all-out play defined a season that statistics didn’t agree with, a NL West championship for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Fans were so enamored with Byrnes they basically forced management to sign him to a 3 year, $30 million extension. Ever since the day he put his pen to that contract his career has become a Shakespearean-esque tragedy. After signing his contract he struggled down the stretch of the 2007 season and hit only .193 in the playoffs that year. Then came terrible 2008 and 2009 seasons. Both these seasons were thankfully marred by injuries, because neither started very well.

Throughout all this turmoil, the Eric Byrnes show continued to air. What had started out as an entertaining must-watch for hardcore D-Backs fans soon became an outlet we could use to blame Eric Byrnes. Was his TV show really a contributing factor to his miserable seasons? I would argue it wasn’t, but it didn’t help his public perception. He aired the show on his off days, so it never interfered with his work. I’ve heard people argue that he should have been doing more baseball related work on his off days, but they are his off days. Everyone needs a little break from their job no matter how cool it is. Plus, almost every show I managed to catch the past few years involved him rehabbing his various injured body parts, so I guess he was working during those episodes.

Perhaps a 2010 season without a TV show is precisely what Byrnes needs to rebound. I doubt it. What he needs to do is get healthy, stop hitting pop ups, put the ball on the ground and use his speed. It is hard to say if Byrnes is going to make the team, but if he can get a little bit of that 2007 swagger back he would become a valuable bench player. As for his TV show, I’m sure the DVDs of it will go be in stores soon, right next to the complete first season of Kath & Kim.

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