This story originally ran in Hometown 9 on May 17, 2008.

By Nick Tavares

So, after hiccups against the Mets and Cubs, the Diamonbacks are once again in cruise control. Brandon Webb can’t be beat, Dan Haren looks as good as promised, and the kids — especially Chris Young, Stephen Drew, Justin Upton, Conor Jackson, Micah Owings and Matt Scherzer — are playing great, solid ball, and look to be forming the core of a perrenial contender.

But unless you live in the Grand Canyon state or have this man on your fantasy team, you might have noticed that Eric Byrnes is having a tough time of it. Actually, he’s been terrible. He’s been so bad, that it’s been hard to fathom.

And the proof is in the pudding. The numbers aren’t just ugly, they’re horrifying. Through 38 games and 157 at bats: a batting average of .223. 4 home runs. 17 RBI, and a measly .665 OPS.

It has been well documented that Byrnes started off slowly. But in the second and third weeks of the season, his production picked up, and it looked like he was returning to the form that made him All-Star snub number 1 last year. In fact, he was up to a .267 average with a .776 OPS. Not great, but certainly better than where he had been.

But those days are long gone. In the month of May, that average is just .102. His OPS is .224, a figure so low it’s absurd. He hadn’t driven in a single run until last night against Detroit, he’s only hit safely five times, and he’s started to become a near sure thing to ground into a double play when all he needs to do is put the ball over the shortstop’s head. Or walk. Or even strike out.

Penciled in as Arizona’s no. 3 hitter, with Chris Young and Orlando Hudson ahead of him and Conor Jackson behind him, Byrnes has plummeted to seventh in the order. He was held out of Thursday’s finale vs. Colorado all together. You might see some more of Jeff Salazar or Chris Burke in left field in the coming weeks.

The statistical horrors aside, what is really surprising is how quickly he’s fallen from grace among the Diamondback faithful. This is a man with his own show on FSN, albeit a quirky one that feels a lot more public access that major league. Walk into Chase Field, and at least 60 percent of the fans have his 22 on their backs. He’s at the center of their highlights package to open the games. My goodness, he’s Byrnsie. And he’s one of the best-paid players on the team.

And he’s started to hear the boos from the depths of the stadium.

That contract is likely at the source of the fans’ frustrations. The team will undoubtedly lose Hudson to free agency this year. Byrnes played like a man possessed during his contract year. And, sensing a tenuous fanbase’s feelings, the team ponied up the cash to the tune of a three-year, $30 million contract.

It was applauded at the time, and it seemed like just another notch on a great season’s belt. Now, it’s the fuel to the fire that Byrnes finds himself in. The thought itself of Byrnes ever being booed in his home park is shocking to me. I didn’t even know what to think when I heard them myself.

Alas, there is hope. A 2-for-3 night with a homer and two runs driven in is fantastic. It’s the best day he’s had since the calendar changed.

But if he’s going to shake the boo birds off for good, it can’t just be one game. Winning teams shirk their dead weight as a season goes on, and the Diamondbacks won’t be able to ignore reality for much longer if this game turns out to be an anomaly instead of a sign of things to come.