Eric Cyr (born February 11, 1979 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian Major League Baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent.

[edit] 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 off 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.

Cyr 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. He was 3-6 with a 5.56. era for the 51s in 12 games, 11 as a starter.

He played winter ball in Venezuela during the off-season and signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers for 2008^[1], but was released before the start of the season and signed with the Seattle Mariners; he was assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers, but was released on May 2, 2008. After a stint pitching with Quebec of the Canadian American Baseball league, where he was named player of the week ending on May 25, 2008, he was picked back up by the Dodgers and assigned to the Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino and later promoted to the Las Vegas 51s. He became a free agent at the end of the season. Early in 2009, he announced that he was planning on joining the Sherbrooke Expos a senior team in the Ligue de baseball senior élite du Québec.

[edit] Sexual Assault Accusation

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.^[2] Cyr plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of sexual assault, and served 30 days in jail later that year.^[3] 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.^[4]

[edit] References

1. ^ MLB.com article on Rangers signing minor league free agents
2. ^ "MLB Pitcher Accused Of Molesting 15-Year-Old On Plane", KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, posted January 22, 2004, accessed May 10, 2006.
3. ^ "Rookie roundup", Pat Coleman, USA TODAY Baseball Weekly, published July 16, 2002, accessed May 10, 2006.
4. ^ U.S. District Court: CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (Western Division - Los Angeles), CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 2:04-cv-01088-DSF-PLA".

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube