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Jimmy Scott's High & Tight: The Paul Byrd Interview

Paul Byrd is a 13-year MLB veteran. He's pitched in big games and won. He's gone under the knife more than once and missed significant amounts of time rehabbing. He's been listed in The Mitchell Report, been traded, been a free agent, made and lost millions of dollars and even written a book about his faith and relationship with God. He's also electing not to play the first half of the 2009 season. Sound like an interesting guy? You bet.

Last summer, when I interviewed Kym Byrd, Paul's wife, about a marriage in baseball study she and Paul had commissioned, she mentioned a book Paul had just published. Called Free Byrd: The Power Of A Liberated Life, the book goes deep into how Paul found his faith and how it worked for him as a Major League Baseball pitcher. He told about how he'd been a 'bible thumper," you know, that stereotypical born-again nutjob who only talks to you about Jesus and God and seems to be one of the worst people in the world non-Christians would want to sit next to on a five-hour bus ride from Scranton to Canton. That was who Paul was.

That's not who he is today.

Yes, he's still serious about his faith. But what started as a living will, a project to be passed down to his kids, became Free Byrd ("What song is it you wanna hear?"). And it is there that we learn about how God became Paul's pitching coach. It's there that he talks about Christianity in the clubhouse and how it affects team chemistry. It's there that he gets into the personal difficulties and apparent contradiction to his beliefs he faced before Game 7 of the 2007 ALCS when word leaked that Paul had been taking HgH (he'd later be listed in The Mitchell Report). Talk about chemistry, huh?

Paul's interview on Jimmy Scott's High & Tight is timed well. The night we spoke was just hours after a report had been published that paul was taking the first half of the 2009 season off to be with his family. Why? Did he realize what he was doing? Was he hurt? Did he know he was turning his back on loads of money?

You want answers? You want the truth? You get both here. Paul is a generous guy. (All proceeds from the book go to charity.) He's loaded with enthusiasm. If you think you'll be bored listening to this, think again. His energy is infectious. His southern drawl and everyman attitude make it hard not to like him. You want to hear the full story about the steroids thing? About how he felt when The Mitchell Report came out and there was his name? Want to hear why he's taking half a season off? Want to know how a guy who believes so hard in the power of The Lord fits into a locker room, a team, filled with other guys who seem to have the world and all of its riches at their fingertips? Then listen here. You'll be happy you did. You're not going to be converted. Don't worry about that. But you will be entertained. You're going to like listening to Paul Byrd (and a great soundtrack too). It is free, after all.