Eric Byrnes has worn a lot of hats in the years since his Major League Baseball career. None of them prepared him for coming face-to-face with a bear near his ping-pong table.
The former MLB Network analyst and No Filter Network co-founder stopped by Bleav’s The Mayor’s Office with Sean Casey this week to share some thoughts on the 2024 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets. But before he left, Casey made sure that he told Casey and co-host Rich Ciancimino the story of a recent bear encounter that he also happened to capture on video.
“I walked down, the other night my daughter had a friend over… Chloe was getting ready for bed. So I go down to say goodnight and walk down the stairs… and as soon as you go downstairs, there’s this big open living area with couches, ping-pong table, bar, everything. And so when I walked down, as soon as I get the second, third step, I look on top of the bar at what I thought was a stuffed animal. I’m like ‘What the f*ck is that, man? Whoa, what a cool stuffed animal.'”
But when the “stuffed animal” moved, he became even more confused and wondered if his kids were dressing up in Halloween costumes early. “What a great costume,” he thought.
It wasn’t until the “costume” started walking on all fours that it finally clicked in that he was looking at a real-life bear. After yelling to alert his wife, who was upstairs, he did what most people would do these days. He started filming.
“Holy shitballs,” Byrnes can be heard saying on the video as the bear starts making its way from the bar back towards the window it entered from. The bear then hung out on the windowsill for a few moments, deciding whether or not to re-enter the home, before finally taking the hint from Byrnes’ increasingly wild yells and calls.
Thanks so much to Eric Byrnes for joining #TheMayorsOffice with Sean Casey podcast this morning. Eric just exudes professionalism and class… ps, he’s the best! pic.twitter.com/LmneVTSnVd
— Chinch4 (@Chinch4) October 23, 2024
You can watch the full video on Byrnes’ Instagram profile.
[The Mayor’s Office, Eric Byrnes]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.