SEATTLE – When Ichiro Suzuki came flying down the line in the bottom of the 11th last Friday night in Seattle, the last thing he expected was batter Eric Byrnes to to take the pitch and pull the bat back in a failed suicide squeeze attempt. During a suicide squeeze attempt, the runner leaves from 3rd base when the pitcher starts his wind-up, and the hitter squares to bunt and tries to but the ball no matter where it is pitched. Failing to put the ball in play will 99% of the time cause the base runner to be out.
Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington was actually ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes on that play because the pitch was called a ball, and he figured there was no possible way hitter would not offer at the pitch.
After the game, Byrnes announced that he was nervous in the dugout before the at-bat, knowing that his manager Don Wakamatsu was going to ask him to execute a suicide squeeze. Byrnes, who rarely bunts, wasn’t sure how to handle the situation so he got help from a suicide help hotline, who talked him out of the “suicide attempt.”
“He got cold feet,” said Wakamatsu. “We were all set up for the suicide, and at the last second he changes his mind and screws up the whole play. I hope he is happy with his decision, because I’m going to make sure he is not around here any longer.”
Wakamatsu lived up to his word; Byrnes was cut by the Mariners on Sunday night.
