[RedHot25]

Weird story....

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=320359
The Seattle Mariners released veteran outfielder Eric Byrnes on Sunday night, two days after a late-game gaffe and then bizarre exit from the clubhouse on a bicycle.

...

On Friday night, he inexplicably pulled his bat back on a botched suicide squeeze in extra innings of a scoreless game. Ichiro Suzuki was tagged out on the play.


Texas manager Ron Washington was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Jim Wolf that there should have been a strike called on Byrnes on the botched squeeze play. Washington just "could not fathom" that Byrnes pulled the bat back.


Asked if he'd ever seen that in his 39 years of professional baseball, Washington said Friday night: "No, never have. That's why I couldn't believe when Jim told me that Eric pulled back on it. Ichiro's flying down the line, Eric squares the bunt -- how can you pull a bat back? But he did."


To top it off, Byrnes froze at a fastball right down the middle for strike three, squandering Seattle's chance to make Cliff Lee's debut with the

Mariners a winning one.


Byrnes, who was living nearby in downtown Seattle, bolted out the front door of the clubhouse riding his beach cruiser bicycle mere minutes after the game ended. He made a right turn down a tunnel and then made a 90-degree left turn around approaching Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik before he could make eye contact.


Zduriencik glanced up, then kept walking to the clubhouse that had every Mariners player but Byrnes in it.


In the visiting clubhouse, a handful of Rangers cracked up at a television replay of Byrnes' gaffe. The Rangers were still talking about the play Sunday.