George Tony Lyons (January 25, 1891 – August 12, 1981) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played a total of 33 games in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the 1920 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1924 St. Louis Browns. Listed at and , he threw and batted right-handed.

Biography

Nicknamed "Smooth", Lyons played minor league baseball from 1914 to 1928, except for 1916 when there is no record of him playing professionally. Lyons played only six games during the 1918 season, due to military service from May 1918 to January 1919. In 13 minor league seasons, he accrued a 124–163

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

for seasons that records are available for. Lyons' first major league stint came in September 1920 with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. His best outing was a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

4–2 win over the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

on September 22. With the Cardinals, Lyons pitched in seven games (two starts) registering a 2–1 record with a 3.09

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) while striking out five batters in

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Lyons returned to the major leagues in 1924 with the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

, when he pitched in 26 games (six starts). He had two complete game wins in June; one an 11–4 win over the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, the other a 10–2 win over the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

. His record with the Browns was 3–2 with a 5.21 ERA and 25 strikeouts in innings pitched. Lyons' major league pitching appearances yielded an overall 5–3 record with a 4.72 ERA in 33 games pitched. As a batter, he accrued a .222

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(6-for-27) with four RBIs. Defensively, he committed no

error An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

s in 39

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

for a 1.000

fielding average In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, divi ...

. Born in Bible Grove, Illinois, in 1891, Lyons served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during World War I. He died at age 90 in

Nevada, Missouri Nevada ( ''nə--də'') is a city in and the county seat of Vernon County, on the western border of Missouri, United States. The population was 8,386 at the 2010 census, and 8,254 in the 2018 estimate. The local government has a council-manager ...

, and was interred there. The ballpark in the city of Nevada—used by the local high school and a

M.I.N.K. Collegiate Baseball League The M.I.N.K. Collegiate Baseball League is a collegiate summer baseball league consisting of nine teams. Currently, seven teams are from Missouri, two from Iowa. The league was formed in 2009 and was affiliated with the National Baseball Congre ...

team—is named Lyons Stadium in his honor.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, George 1891 births 1981 deaths Baseball players from Illinois St. Louis Cardinals players St. Louis Browns players Ottawa Indians players Clinton Pilots players Wichita Witches players Wichita Jobbers players Sioux City Packers players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Toledo Mud Hens players Columbus Senators players People from Clay County, Illinois United States Army personnel of World War I

Biography

References

Further reading

External links