Naturally, the announcement has already spawned speculation as to why. Mainly in that it's a way to avoid the Olympic style steroid testing that the WBC will enforce. Or, to paraphrase a commenter on Deadspin, because they could never fit the medal over his giant head. Our theory has it that with the announcement of his reality show, Barry realizes that he doesn't need to play on the baseball team and wave the flag to earn good P.R. anymore. After all, what's more American than having a camera crew constantly follow you around to record your every move?

Or maybe it is what it is. Mainly that at 41 and after suffering through three knee surgeries, Barry has finally looked into his own baseball mortality and realized that at his age and with his body and with this probably being his last, best, shot at winning the Series, he needs to slow down a bit. But where’s the fun of thinking that?