We are always interested in how other pro athletes would fare in our sport, thought this was worth a mention. I’d say this is a hell of an Ironman debut for a guy used to running 90 feet at a time. For those that don’t know Byrnes was a former MLB outfielder with the A’s and Diamondbacks among others. He was probably one of the better all-around athletes I have seen play, but didn’t have much by way of patience at the plate. He was an explosive player, fun to watch defensively in his prime. Hope he sticks with it, I’d like to see how much he can progress from here.
Interesting, was wondering how he did and was too lazy myself to search the results…not too damn shabby indeed.
That’s pretty good, always liked him when he played for the A’s. He always seemed a bt high strung and like he could never sit still, IM would seem to fit right in.
34 yrs old, right? Not a bad gig. Retired with a few mil in the bank… Good on him.
Last year he was playing slowpitch softball in a beer league… good for him doing some healthy activity.
34 yrs old, right? Not a bad gig. Retired with a few mil in the bank… Good on him.
35, Guessing more than a few million, I think he had 1 huge contract something like $30 mil. He was always a hustle guy, struck me as one of those guys that would be good (like pro good) at any sport he put his mind to. I just read an article about his lead up to the IM and sounds like he has caught the bug a little bit. I suspect this won’t be his last race.
Wow, very impressive debut. I like hearing how pro athletes from different sports do when they take the IM plunge where there have been a few former NHL stars (Pat LaFontaine, Mike Richter, Don Sweeney) plus MLB (Jeff Conine) and NFL (Darryl Haley) that have done IM after their playing days were done. I liked Byrnes whem he played where he was one of those guys who hustled every play in the field and every trip down the baseline, always seemed to get his uniform dirty somehow. Has done well as an analyst on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight also.
The guy is an animal. The same discipline and professional approach that made him great in MLB, seems to be working wonders in triathlon. He did a sprint tri in AZ in Oct 2010 and I’m pretty sure that was one of his first events… amazing to see him under 11hrs in IM just a year later. Great guy, great to have around in the sport.