Lyman Raymond Lamb (March 17, 1895 – October 5, 1955) was an American professional baseball
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
and
third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
. While playing in the minor leagues in 1924, he hit 100
doubles to set the organized baseball single-season record.
Baseball career
Lamb was born in
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
, in 1895. He was tall and weighed 150 lb. Lamb started his professional baseball career in 1915 with the
Fairbury Shaners
The Fairbury Shaners were a minor league baseball team were based in Fairbury, Nebraska.
In 1915, the Shaners played as a member of the Class D (baseball), Class D level Nebraska State League. The league folded during the 1915 season with the Sha ...
and played for the
Joplin Miners
The Joplin Miners was the primary name of the minor league baseball team in Joplin, Missouri that played for 49 seasons between 1901 and 1954. Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees Mickey Mantle and Whitey Herzog played for Joplin. Professional baseba ...
of the
Western League from 1917 to 1920.
["Lyman Lamb Minor Leagues Statistics & History"](_blank)
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
In September 1920, Lamb made his
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), ...
debut with the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
's
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 ...
. He played nine MLB games that season and had a
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 ...
of .375. In 1921, he played in 45 games for the Browns and batted .254. The
American Association American Association may refer to:
Baseball
* American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891
* American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997
* American Association of Profe ...
's
Louisville Colonels
The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...
purchased Lamb's contract in January 1922, and he never played in the majors again.
["Lyman Lamb Stats"](_blank)
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
Lamb spent most of the 1922 to 1925 seasons with the Western League's
Tulsa Oilers
The Tulsa Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and play in the ECHL. The Oilers played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center until 2008 when they moved into the new BOK Center. For many years, the Tuls ...
.
In 1922, he led the league with 68 doubles and helped the Oilers win the pennant.
[Lamb, Bill]
"Lyman Lamb"
sabr.org. Retrieved February 1, 2022. In 1923, he hit 71 doubles to lead the league again. In 1924, Lamb played 168 games, batted .373, and led the league with 261
hits and 100 doubles. The 100 doubles were an organized baseball single-season record.
[James, Bill (2001). ''The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract''. p. 143.]
From 1926 to 1928, Lamb played for the
Wichita Falls Spudders
The Wichita Falls Spudders were a minor league baseball team that formed in 1920 and played its last game in 1957. They were based in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The first Spudders team ran from 1920–1932 and played in the Texas League as an affiliat ...
of the
Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
. He then bounced around different minor league teams before retiring in 1931.
During his professional baseball career, Lamb played 2,007 games and had 7,703
at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s, 2,349 hits, 593 doubles, 77
triples, and 123
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s. He was mostly a third baseman in the majors and mostly an outfielder in the minors.
Lamb died in
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...
, in 1955.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Lyman
1895 births
1955 deaths
Major League Baseball third basemen
St. Louis Browns players
Minor league baseball managers
Joplin Miners players
Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players
Wichita Falls Spudders players
Beaumont Exporters players
Baseball players from Nebraska
Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska
Fairbury Shaners players