Tim Byrdak Career Tracker

Thursday, February 21, 2008
30 seconds with Tim Byrdak
Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

Q. You had a very good year last season (3-0, with a 3.20 earned-run average in 39 games) and a very consistent year. You're 34 years old and won three times as many games as you did in your previous big-league career. How did it all come together?

A. When I started to develop as a pitcher was during the time I was giving pitching lessons to kids (Byrdak had numerous elbow problems and Tommy John surgery early in his career). It was a case of repetition and getting an idea for what needed to be done.

Q. Talk a little about your pitching repertoire. How many pitches do you throw?

A. A four-seam fastball, a slider, and last year I added a split that helped me with right-hand batters.

Q. Anything different this season?

A. I'm going to get a little higher in the set position -- moving my hands more from my belt to the top of my chest. My two-seamer actually sinks a bit now that I'm more on top of it.

My favorite Byrdak memory:

wait, nevermind....that's Bobby Seay.

Here's the story anyways:

It was September 1, 2007 in Oakland, California. The Tigers were playing the A's. I was there.

The Tigers were up 5-1 and Verlander was leaving the game after 6.2 IP with 6 hits, 2 walks, and 10 K's. The bases were loaded and up stepped Jack Cust looking to get his first non-K of the day (he was 0-3 with a hat trick). One bad pitch and Cust, the A's leading HR hitter, would tie the game and Verlander would get a ND (and give up 3 more ERs).

The first pitch was a called strike, the next pitch was a ball, Cust swung and missed at the next two and then watched ball 2 go bye. The count was 2-2. A ball would mean all 3 runners would be going on the pitch. Cust took the pitch for a called strike 3 and the inning was over and Verlander would get the win to improve to 14-5 while Dan Haren fell to 14-5.

Well, a good place for that would be in the BOBBY SEAY THREAD...

Wait, is there one?

cdurbfan22 wrote:

Well, a good place for that would be in the BOBBY SEAY THREAD...

Wait, is there one?

Yeah, but I was too lazy to find it. Seay and Byrdak are the same guy anyways - they're lefty specialists. Seay probably pitches long relief more than Byrdak I guess.

It was still a good story though. That was the first time I ever saw Verlander get a win. Then again, I've only seen him twice - both times against Haren. He's 1-0 with a ND.

catbox_9 wrote:

cdurbfan22 wrote:

Well, a good place for that would be in the BOBBY SEAY THREAD...

Wait, is there one?

Yeah, but I was too lazy to find it. Seay and Byrdak are the same guy anyways - they're lefty specialists. Seay probably pitches long relief more than Byrdak I guess.

It was still a good story though. That was the first time I ever saw Verlander get a win. Then again, I've only seen him twice - both times against Haren. He's 1-0 with a ND.

Yeah, I'm not shocked by that at all. LAZY BUM!!

That's true, but still.

Sadly, I already knew that.

catbox_9 wrote:

cdurbfan22 wrote:

Well, a good place for that would be in the BOBBY SEAY THREAD...

Wait, is there one?

Yeah, but I was too lazy to find it. Seay and Byrdak are the same guy anyways - they're lefty specialists. Seay probably pitches long relief more than Byrdak I guess.

It was still a good story though. That was the first time I ever saw Verlander get a win. Then again, I've only seen him twice - both times against Haren. He's 1-0 with a ND.

(I always thought they were the same guy!! Just kidding....)

Moved this to old players

Timothy Christopher Byrdak (born October 31, 1973 in Oak Lawn, Illinois) is a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Detroit Tigers. His previous major league experience came from 1998 to 2000, when Byrdak played for the Kansas City Royals, as well as an injury-plagued stint with the Baltimore Orioles. On August 30, 2006, the Orioles designated Byrdak for assignment. On November 17, 2006, the Tigers signed him to a minor league deal.

Prior to the 2007 season, Byrdak developed a forkball, a type of pitch that he had previously not thrown. This enabled him to throw 3 pitches (along with a fastball and curveball), and as a result he began to post the best numbers of his career. In his Detroit Tiger debut, Byrdak struck out 5 of 6 batters in the heart of the powerful Boston Red Sox lineup, including an inning-ending curve that left David Ortiz frozen looking at the third strike.

Personal life

Aside from major league baseball Tim works at the Diamond Sports Academy and gives pitching lessons along side many former major leagers including former Rockies ace, Marvin Freeman. Tim is married to Heather and has two kids, daughter Briana and son Christopher. He and his family reside in Lockport, IL during the off-season.

03/26/2008 - Tigers release southpaw Byrdak

Byrdak had been all but assured of a place as one of the two left-hand relievers Leyland had intended to take north. Byrdak was outstanding in 2007, rolling up a 3-0 record and a 3.20 ERA.

But he had ongoing troubles during spring camp and Tuesday night's catastrophe ended any chance the Tigers would stick with him five days before they open their 2008 season.

Byrdak, 34, finished with 15 runs allowed on 21 hits in 10 innings of work this spring (2008), covering 10 appearances. He was a comeback story in Detroit last summer, when he progressed from early-season callup to lefty specialist. He went 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA in 39 appearances, covering 45 innings, while striking out 49. Left-handers hit just .176 against him with 24 strikeouts in 83 plate appearances.

ajor League Baseball debutSelected MLB statistics(through 2007)

Detroit Tigers — No. 34
Relief pitcher
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
August 7, 1998 for the Kansas City Royals
Win-Loss: 4-5
ERA: 5.50
Strikeouts: 108
Kansas City Royals (1998-2000) Baltimore Orioles (2005-2006) Detroit Tigers (2007-2008) Houston Astros (2008–present)

Career statistics(through 2009 season)

Win-Loss - 7-8

Earned run average - 4.50

Strikeouts - 213

feels like an obituary!

Poor Tim! It's hard to see guys go . . .

especially since he will have trouble finding someone to pitch for now!

Wow, he's already in the "old players" section, you guys work fast!!!

iluvpudge7 wrote:

Wow, he's already in the "old players" section, you guys work fast!!!

LOL. They don't pay us for nothing

catbox_9 wrote:

iluvpudge7 wrote:

Wow, he's already in the "old players" section, you guys work fast!!!

LOL. They don't pay us for nothing

Pay??

I thought you guys just did this for the of the Tigers???!!!!!

Casey21 wrote:

I thought you guys just did this for the of the Tigers???!!!!!

We do, our pay is in making Tiger fans happy. If you took our collective pay, we could not buy a penny!!!

they are 2 awesome!

man, he did do very well last year, 3-0, 3.2 ERA, definitely not bad, i dont see why they released him, it cant be for one bad outing, let alone in the preseason.

gdennis59 wrote:

man, he did do very well last year, 3-0, 3.2 ERA, definitely not bad, i dont see why they released him, it cant be for one bad outing, let alone in the preseason.

Actually his whole spring has badly gone downhill:

TIM BYRDAK
DATE . OPP . DEC. . IP . H . R . ER . BB . SO
2/27 .. NYM .. ND . 1.0 . 0 . 0 . 0 ... 0 ... 1
3/1 .... CLE ... ND . 1.0 . 3 . 1.. 1 .. 1 .... 0
3/4 ..@HOU . L-1 . 1.0 . 3 . 1 . 1 .. 0 .... 1
3/7 .. @ATL .. ND . 1.0 . 0 .. 0 . 0 . 0 .... 1
3/9 .... PIT ... ND . 1.0 . 2 .. 1 . 1 . 1 .... 2
3/12 ... HOU . ND . 2.0 . 3 .. 1 . 1 . 0 ..... 1
3/15 ... NYY . ND . 1.0 . 1... 0 .. 0 . 0 .... 1
3/18 .. WASH ND . 1.0 .. 6 . 6 .. 6 . 1 .... 1
3/23 .. CLE .. ND . 1.0 .. 2 . 2 .. 2 . 2 .... 1
3/25 .. HOU . ND . 0.0... 1 . 3 .. 3 . 4 .... 0

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Casey21 wrote:

I thought you guys just did this for the of the Tigers???!!!!!

We do, our pay is in making Tiger fans happy. If you took our collective pay, we could not buy a penny!!!

We love you guys!!!!!!!

YES WE DO!!! and I know Tigersaint does too!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

iluvpudge7 wrote:

Wow, he's already in the "old players" section, you guys work fast!!!

LOL. They don't pay us for nothing

Pay??

You didn't get your check

You know, we take all the money the members pay when they join and split it. $0 divided 5 ways....you should have got your $0.00 check already!

catbox_9 wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

iluvpudge7 wrote:

Wow, he's already in the "old players" section, you guys work fast!!!

LOL. They don't pay us for nothing

Pay??

You didn't get your check

You know, we take all the money the members pay when they join and split it. $0 divided 5 ways....you should have got your $0.00 check already!

So that's where it went, about as much as I get in interest in my bank account!

catbox_9 wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

iluvpudge7 wrote:

Wow, he's already in the "old players" section, you guys work fast!!!

LOL. They don't pay us for nothing

Pay??

You didn't get your check

You know, we take all the money the members pay when they join and split it. $0 divided 5 ways....you should have got your $0.00 check already!

I got mine and spent in all in one minute...

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

iluvpudge7 wrote:

Wow, he's already in the "old players" section, you guys work fast!!!

LOL. They don't pay us for nothing

Pay??

You didn't get your check

You know, we take all the money the members pay when they join and split it. $0 divided 5 ways....you should have got your $0.00 check already!

I got mine and spent in all in one minute...

With the economy as is you should be saving that money. Keep up the good work and I might be able to double your salary :haha:

put it under the mattress! lol

Saturday crucial on many levels for struggling Tigers
BY JON PAUL MOROSI • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • April 3, 2008

Saturday could be crucial to the Tigers' season, and not just because left-hander Dontrelle Willis is set to make his Detroit debut that afternoon against the Chicago White Sox.


Centerfielder Curtis Granderson is scheduled for a second round of X-rays that day on his right hand. Granderson sustained a non-displaced fracture when he was hit by a pitch March 22 in a spring game.

"I'm excited and nervous," he said. "I don't want to go in there and, all of a sudden, it looks worse. Hopefully, it looks better."

CHANGED MAN: Right-hander Jeremy Bonderman was ill Wednesday, but Leyland thought he would be able to make his season debut today as scheduled. Bonderman said Wednesday morning he feels more confident in his change-up now than he did last year. He hopes to throw at least 15 today.

"I believe I can throw it for a strike and get good results," Bonderman said.

NOTEBOOK: The Tigers' full-season minor league affiliates are scheduled to begin their seasons tonight. Star prospect Rick Porcello is set to start against Tampa for the Class A Lakeland Flying Tigers, according to the team's Web site. ... Tim Byrdak, the left-hander whom the Tigers had released last week and then pursued as a free agent, has decided to sign with the Houston Astros and will join their Triple-A team.

Well, I'm glad that Tim found a team to play for.

good for Byrdak, even though I dont think we should have released him, he was an experienced player inour bullpen and probably would have helped in the 5-4 loss in 11.

But, cant change the past, so Good Luck to ya Byrdak