'Eric Cyr' (born
February 11,
1979 in
Montreal, Quebec) is a
Canadian baseball pitcher, who currently pitches for the
Las Vegas 51s in the
Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system.
Baseball career
Graduated from Edouard Montpetit High School in Montreal and attended
Seminole Junior College in
Oklahoma. Cyr was drafted by the
San Diego Padres in the 30th round of the 1998
MLB draft and signed with the Padres on
May 31 1999.
Made his professional debut in 1999, splitting time between the
Azl Padres and the
Idaho Falls Chukars of the rookie leagues. Played with the Single-A
Fort Wayne Wizards in 2000 and the
Lake Elsinore Storm in 2001. With the Storm he had a terrific season, turning in a record of 7-4 with a 1.61 era in 21 appearances (16 starts) and striking out 131 batters while only walking 24.
He was promoted to the Double-A
Mobile BayBears in 2002 where he was 4-6 with a 3.24 era in 14 starts before being promoted to Triple-A
Portland.
He made his major league debut for the Padres on
June 23 2002 against the
New York Yankees. He worked one scoreless inning in relief. He played 5 games that year going 0-1 with an
ERA of 10.50 in 6 innings of total work.
Cyr was claimed on waivers by the
Anaheim Angels on
March 5 2003 and pitched briefly for the Angels Double-A team in
Arkansas before the Angeles waived him and he was claimed by the
Cincinnati Reds, who sent him to
Chattanooga. After a short stint there, he was returned to the Angels.
Pitched for both Arkansas and
Salt Lake Stingers in 2004 before leaving the Angeles to take part in the
2004 Summer Olympics as part of Team Canada.
Also pitched for Salt Lake in 2005, accumulating a record of 5-5, 5.64 in 38 appearances, 9 starts.
He was on the 2006 Canadian
WBC Roster. Shortly before attending 2006 WBC, he signed with
CPBL's Uni-President Lions in
Taiwan. He left Uni-President Lions in September
2006, leaving a record of 9 wins (including 2
shutouts), 5 losses, and an ERA of 2.52, a
WHIP of 1.23 in his 128.2 innings during the 2006 CPBL season.
After quitting the Uni-President Lions, he started one game for the
Quebec Capitales of the
Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball and gave only 4 hits and no walk in eight shut-out innings before quiting the team to join
Team Canada at the qualifiers for the
2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing, China.
In 2007 he signed a minor league contract with the
Los Angeles Dodgers, compiling a record of 6-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 16 starts for the
Jacksonville Suns before being promoted to the
Las Vegas 51s.
Legal problems
On
January 25,
2001, Cyr was accused of sexually assaulting 15-year-old Angela Rogers on an international flight from
New Zealand to
Los Angeles. Cyr was seated next to Rogers on Qantas Flight 25, and according to Rogers, he passed her a note saying "what's up sexy, you are very cut (sic) it is bad that you are 15 the law is very strick (sic) about that kind of stuff but I may have to do an execption (sic) this time ..." Rogers claimed that Cyr subsequently "tricked" her into meeting him in one of the airplane's
lavatories, where they engaged in sex for approximately thirty minutes.
[1] Cyr plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of sexual assault, and served 30 days in jail later that year.
[2] On
February 18,
2004, Rogers filed a lawsuit against Cyr, the Padres, the
Lake Elsinore Storm (the Padres' minor-league affiliate for which Cyr was playing at the time of the assault),
Qantas Airlines, and up to 100
John Does.
[3]
See also
★
Players from Canada in MLB
References
1. "MLB Pitcher Accused Of Molesting 15-Year-Old On Plane", KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, posted January 22, 2004, accessed May 10, 2006.
2. "Rookie roundup", Pat Coleman, USA TODAY Baseball Weekly, published July 16, 2002, accessed May 10, 2006.
3. U.S. District Court: CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (Western Division - Los Angeles), CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 2:04-cv-01088-DSF-PLA".
External links
★
MLB Stats